30 THE BOOK OF GARDEN FURNITURE 



wires, almost invisible in the dusk ! Rather worse than 

 the iron arch, because more prominent, is that made of 

 green painted trellis, or the still more trying arrange- 

 ment of contorted branchings brilliantly varnished. Our 

 resources must indeed be limited if we cannot contrive 

 something better and more appropriate than either of 

 these, and usually at a fraction of the cost. Rough 

 pieces of suitable wood are to be found in plenty at any 

 timber yard ; or, if iron is to enter into the construction 

 of the proposed arch, the aid of the nearest blacksmith 

 should be requisitioned. With regard to the latter 

 material, however, it is well to bear in mind that many 

 plants, roses especially, seldom do well when trained 

 against it. For this reason, where the extra strength and 

 durability of iron render its use desirable, it would be 

 well to surround it with a light wooden framework. In 

 the kitchen garden, the espaliers running parallel along 

 the two sides of a main walk, might be arched over, 

 either continuously or at regular intervals, in this case 

 iron arches being employed. 



A fault, nearly always noticeable in ready-made garden 

 arches, is that they are seldom built of sufficient depth, 

 and where free-growing climbers are to be grown, this 

 is a great disadvantage. The framework for a rose arch 

 should not be less than two feet deep, three would not be 

 too much in the majority of cases. The better effect 

 obtained by spreading out the main shoots, instead of 

 having them crowded together with little or no space to 

 develop, is quite sufficient to warrant the slightly increased 

 cost of materials for the larger framework. A very good 

 form of archway may be built with half a dozen rods an 

 inch square, and a number of three-foot lengths of lighter 

 wood. Four of the rods are used as uprights, bedding 

 them securely in the ground, two and a half feet apart, on 

 each side of the walk it is desired to span. The uprights 

 are joined overhead by the two remaining rods, and the 



