FORM OF KITCHEX-GARDEX. 149 



objectionable : the former are feeble and cold ; the 

 latter_, though productive^ are late^ with a damp un- 

 comfortable look^ and require additional labour. 



Form. — The form of the kitchen-garden, and the con- 

 sequent arrangement of the walls which surroimd it, are 

 usually determined by the nature of the ground, and 

 by the extent of space enclosed. On all siu-faces not 

 deviating much from a level, the favourite configuration 

 is a rectangular one, either a square or a parallelogram ; 

 and in these forms the grounds can be laid out to the 

 greatest advantage, with fewer walks, and with com- 

 partments most suitable to the culture of vegetables and 

 the arrangement of fruit-trees. A number of other 

 forms have been occasionally adopted, but without ap- 

 parent benefit. For example, in order to diminish the 

 expense incurred in erecting the walls, some have 

 chosen the form of an octagon, or other polygon more 

 nearly approaching the circle, it being well known that 

 the circle contains the greatest space within the smallest 

 perimeter. Among practical men there is an impression, 

 which is probably well foimded, that walls of a circular 

 or polygonal configuration are more frequently and in- 

 juriously swept along by winds than those of the ordinary 

 rectangular forms. Every ardent horticulturist wishes 

 to have as much wall as possible with a southern aspect. 

 Indeed such is the superiority of climate on these walls, 

 that it is somewhat surprising that they are not more 

 frequently multiplied by being built in the interior of 

 gardens, nmning from east to west, as in the peach - 

 gardens in France. The massive, and therefore expen- 

 sive, style in which garden-walls are commonly built 

 in this country probably accounts for the neglect of so 

 obvious an advantage. We would nevertheless recom- 



