KITCHEN-GARDEN AND ORCHARD 45 



for cutting ? Even is there beauty of flower and foliage 

 in many of the humblest vegetables, a beauty which, 

 because unlocked for, is doubly welcome. 



The site of the kitchen-garden should be fixed in 

 close proximity to the house and stables. On no account 

 should it be so arranged that a portion of the pleasure 

 ground must be traversed to reach it. If it can be walled 

 in so much the better, both on account of the added 

 shelter and for the facilities afforded for the growing of 

 wall fruit. The plan should be entirely regular, the 

 walks crossing one another at right angles, the fruit 

 borders and vegetable beds laid out with due regard to 

 convenience and economy of space. 



A suitable aspect is very important land having a 

 gentle slope to the south being by far the most suitable. 

 In any case the position should be an open one, with free 

 exposure to the sunlight. The presence of large trees, 

 whose branches overshade and roots impoverish the 

 soil, will be extremely prejudicial. The question of 

 boundaries is one in which the initial cost will be more 

 considered than the adaptability of various forms to 

 certain situations. A good yew hedge, or even a split 

 oak fence, may occasionally prove useful, but nothing 

 can equal the merits of well-built walls. No doubt 

 they are expensive, but a close examination proves that 

 they are really more economical in the long run. If 

 well built, and properly treated, they last some hundreds 

 of years ; they provide the best form of shelter, enabling 

 a variety of tender vegetables to be grown, without the 

 loss occasioned by cold and exposure : they afford 

 support for trained fruit-trees, which by their high-class 

 crops return no insignificant proportion of the initial 

 outlay. The hedge, cheaper though it is at the outset, 

 possesses few of these advantages. Constant attention, in 

 the shape of clipping and training, is necessary, if it is to 

 afford adequate shelter ; it is many years before it is of 



