SLIPS, ETC.J 



PRACTICE OF HOETICULTUEE. 



[bheltbb. 



of one, is equal to the mean temperature in 

 the open plain of T further south. Hence it 

 is that grapes, which ripen in the open air at 

 Bordeaux, require a south wall in the vicinity 

 of Loudon, whicli is 7° further north. 



The best materials for building the walls of 

 a garden are pronounced to be bricks ; and 

 where these cannot be got, it is better, For- 

 syth says, to dispense with walls altogether, 

 or to adopt wooden ones. Nicol is of the 

 same opinion, although he considers stone 

 best for the foundation and basement. Bricks 

 are warmer and better for training trees upon 

 than stone. It is, therefore, recommended 

 that the south, east, and west aspects, should 

 either be entirely composed of bricks, or faced 

 with them. If the wall be entirely con- 

 structed of, or backed with stone, though 

 faced with bricks, and trees are to be trained 

 against such backings, the stones should be 

 laid in regular courses of from four to seven 

 or eight inches thick, and be each fifteen or 

 twenty inches long, in order that there may 

 be a frequency of joints, and that the trees 

 may be properly trained against the wall. 

 Dark-coloured whiustone (greenstone or ba- 

 salt) is, after bricks, the next best material ; 

 and the nearer it approaches to black, the 

 higher does it rise in value. "Walls having 

 south, south-west, or south-east aspects, 

 against which apricots, figs, nectarines, peaches, 

 and the finer kinds of pears and plums are 

 grown, should be built with this stone, provided 

 bricks cannot be obtained. The basement of 

 the wall, however, should always be built of 

 durable stone. 



SLIPS AND RING-FENCE. 



There are few who have walked into the 

 country, and still fewer, we presume, whose 

 usual abode is in the country, who have not 

 observed that there is generally round the walls 

 of large gardens a fence consisting of a hedge 

 of some sort — a paling or a low wall, or sunk 

 fence, placed at some distance from what may 

 be called the inner or principal wall, by which 

 the garden is surrounded. This is technically 

 designated the Bhuj-fence, and the interven- 

 ing spacs between it and the principal wall, is 

 donominatcd the Slip. One of the objects of 

 this arrangement is to enable both sides of 

 the main wall to be brought into use if ne- 

 938 



cessary ; another is, to obtain an additional 

 portion of garden-ground ; and another is, to 

 serve, in some degree, as a protection to the 

 principal garden. The sli[>, 'according to 

 McPhail, and most authors, should not be nar- 

 rower than thirty feet ; neither should it be 

 so wide as to throw the plantation for shelter 

 too far off. According to Nicol, the breadth 

 should be, at least, twenty feet, in order to 

 afford a sufficient border for the trees and 

 a walk. It may, however, be increased in 

 breadth to such an extent as to allow ground 

 without the space, enclosed by the principal 

 walls, for the supply of the family ; and it may 

 be enlarged on all sides, or any particular 

 side, for that purpose. In addition to these 

 opinions, Forsyth states, that the garden 

 should be surrounded with a slip from forty 

 to sixty feet wide, or more ; and this, again, 

 enclosed with an oak paling from six to eight 

 feet high, with a clieval-de-frize at top, for the 

 sake of additional protection, as well as of 

 giving more strength to the paling. By making 

 slips on the outside of the garden wall, 

 ground, upon which gooseberries, strawberries, 

 and currants may be grown, is obtained; and 

 that part of the slip lying nearest to the 

 stables (if well sheltered, and, at the same 

 time, exposed to the sun), may be laid out in 

 melon and cucumber beds ; whilst, as has 

 already been stated, both sides of the prin- 

 cipal garden wall may be occupied by fruit 

 trees. 



SHELTER. 



Shelter from the inclemency of the seasons 

 is as necessary to the infancy or blossoming 

 of the vegetable, as it is to that of the animal 

 world ; and horticulturists concur in the 

 opinion that a garden should be especially 

 sheltered from the east, north, and west 

 winds. McPhail says that this should be 

 done by hills, rising grounds, high buildings, 

 or plantations of trees, and at such distances, 

 on the east and west sides, as not to intercept 

 the rays of the sun. Nicol is of opinion, 

 that the kitchen garden should be sheltered 

 by plantations ; but should by no means be 

 shaded or crowded by them. If walled round, 

 it should be open and free on all sides ; or, at 

 least, to the south-east and west, that the 

 walls myy be clothed with fruit trees on both 



