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CHAPTER IX. 

 OPERATIONS OF HORTICULTURAL DESIGN AND TASTE. 



SUCH matters are treated of fully in the ' Suburban Architect, and 

 Landscape Gardener,' Price 'On the Picturesque,' M'Intosh's 'British 

 Gardener,' Kemp's * How to Lay out a Garden,' Loudon's * Gar- 

 dener's Magazine,' and other works ; and it is not intended to enter into 

 matters of landscape art in this volume, as it would unduly extend the 

 work. But the work of taking plans of gardens, garden-buildings, 

 or of any part of them, or of garden implements, or of modes of per- 

 forming operations, ought to be understood by every gardener who 

 aspires to eminence in his profession, and by every amateur who wishes 

 to improve his own garden by what he sees in those of others. 



Carrying plans into execution by transferring them from paper to 

 ground, or in whatever manner they require to be realized, is equally 

 necessary to be understood by both the gardener and the amateur ; 

 and for this purpose, and that of the preceding paragraph, some know- 

 ledge of geometry, land-surveying, and drawing is requisite. We would 

 recommend Pasley's 'Practical Geometry and Plan-drawing,' 8vo, 16s., 

 Crocker's ' Land-surveying,' 8vo, 12s., and Loudon's ' Self Instruction 

 for Young Gardeners.' 



Reducing a surface to a level, or to a uniform slope, is one of the most 

 common operations required of a gardener in forming a garden or 

 laying out grounds. For this purpose he must have learnt the use of 

 the spirit-level or of the common mason's level, borrowing pins, &c., 

 so as to be able to stake out level or regularly sloping lines on irre- 

 gular surfaces. We recommend, as the best work on this subject for 

 the practical gardener, Jones's ' Principles and Practice of Levelling.' 



The designing and laying out of walks, roads, lawns, and the for- 

 mation of pieces of artificial water, fountains, rockwork, and various 

 other works that fall more or less under the superintendence of the 

 gardener, are given at length in the volumes referred to. 



CHAPTER X. 

 OPERATIONS OF GENERAL MANAGEMENT. 



THE general management of a garden, whether it includes the 

 pleasure-ground, and all the scenes which come under the gardener's 

 department in an extensive country residence, or merely a few rods of 

 ground for growing culinary crops and flowers, requires such constant 

 attention throughout the year, that gardeners have wisely invented 

 calendars to remind them of their duty, monthly and even weekly. 

 An abbreviated calendar of this kind will be found at the end of our 

 volume, and we shall here confine ourselves to giving some hints on 

 general management. 



On undertaking the charge of a garden, the first point to determine 



