CHAP. VI.] SOIL. 117 



be in danger of overturning, which they would 

 be if the walks took a serpentine direction ; 

 while the compartments are divided into oblong 

 beds, for the convenience of digging and crop- 

 ping ; it being found most convenient to sow 

 vegetables in straight lines, to allow of weeding 

 and hoeing between them, earthing up, kc. 

 For these reasons, all pieces of ground in small 

 gardens appropriated to the culture of kitchen 

 vegetables should be made to approximate, as 

 closelv as possible, in form and general arrange- 

 ment, to regular kitchen-gardens ; and, where 

 there is any portion of the ground that cannot 

 be brought into a rectangular shape, it should 

 be set aside for tart-rhubarb, artichokes, or 

 some other permanent crop ; and a square or 

 oblong plot in the centre should be reserved for 

 peas and beans, and other annual vegetables. 



Tlie best soil for a kitchen-garden is a sandy 

 loam, and the surface soil should be from two 

 feet to three feet deep. If it is on a clayey 

 subsoil, every part of the garden should be well 

 drained : as, from the quantity of refuse con- 

 stantly dug into the ground from the culinary 

 vegetables, if any water should be suffered to 

 remain in a stagnant state in the soil, it would 

 be particularly injurious. 



When there is only one detached kitchen- 

 garden, it is usual to surround it entirely, or 

 on three sides, with a piece of ground called a 

 slip, consisting of a fruit-tree border on the 

 other side of the wall, with a walk bounded by 

 a low hedge. This is done in order that fruit 

 trees may be grown en both sides of the wall. 

 The vinery and forcing-houses are generally 



