216 Gardens of^ Herefordshire. 



such as the peach and apricot, it is too cold, and the trees are, 

 in consequence, apt to gum. An orchard, used also as a nursery- 

 ground, contains a great variety of most of the hardy fruits, 

 among which the filbert and other nuts very properly find 

 places, although too frequently neglected in gentlemen's gardens. 

 This orchard is environed by shrubberies, and surrounded by a 

 gravel walk and flower-borders; it is likewise divided into four 

 compartments by cioss walks bordered with flowers, and thus a 

 considerable extent of walk is obtained on a comparatively small 

 area. The kitchen-garden is beyond the orchard, at a very con- 

 venient distance from the mansion ; but its situation is not well 

 chosen in other respects, for it faces the north instead of the 

 south, and tiie soil is strong and rather wet ; its productions are, 

 therefore, late, although generally very good. The melon-ground 

 is, as it always should be, separated from the garden. In culti- 

 vating melons, Mr. Smith (the gardener, an active and intelligent 

 young man) has adopted Mr. Knight's plan of isolating the 

 stems from the soil, by means of pots : he likewise, sometimes, 

 covers the whole of the soil in the frame with pebbles, by w hich 

 the soil is kept in a more equable state of moisture; and, not 

 requiring to be watered so frequently as when exposed, there is 

 not so much risk of the stems cankering. 



Mr. Peploe is gifted with an exquisite taste in fruits, and, con- 

 sequently, none but the best sorts are admitted to his table. To 

 obtain the Flemish pears in the highest degree of perfection, he, 

 some years ago, built a wall with nearly a southern aspect, pur- 

 posely for them: the trees now nearly cover the wall, and pro- 

 duce splendid fruit. A trellis, on tlie principle of that figured in 

 Vol. XIII. p. 260., but made of wood, and not curved, has been in 

 use at this place some years, and the trees upon it generally bear 

 good crops of fruit, which is equal in size to that produced 

 against the east or west-aspected walls. The only objection al- 

 leged by Mr. Smith against this method is, that the fruit is 

 not sufficiently exposed to the sun's rays during its ripening sea- 

 son, owing to its hanging below the trellis. This defect, however, 

 might easily be remedied, or, at least, so modified as to be of 

 trifling importance, by adopting light iron rods, ranging north 

 and south, and by training the branches thinly. If the soil be- 

 neath the trellis was covered with a fine coating of gravel, it 

 would also conduce to the same end, by the increased reflexion 

 of light and heat. Such of Mr. Knight's seedling pears as have 

 fruited at Garnstone are considered inferior to many of the old 

 varieties. 



When this garden was first formed, an important error was 

 committed, in making the wall borders much too deep, in con- 

 sequence of which the roots of the trees have penetrated so 

 deeply as to be almost beyoi^l the reach of atmospheric influ- 

 ence; and, finding at all times a plentiful supply of moisture, the 



