MELOX- GROUND.] PRACTICE OF noBTlCULTUEE. [garden auea. 



not wholly consist in being put in possession 

 of certain fruits of excellent qiiality (for, if so, 

 recourse need only be had to public markets), 

 but in marking the progress of the trees or 

 plants on which these fruits are grown in all 

 their different stages ; and, as jSTicol observes, 

 in being able to say — These are the products 

 of my 010 n gar den. ^^ 



It is advisable not to mix culinary hot- 

 houses with such as are erected for the rearing 

 of ornamental plants. This is the case in some 

 old-fashioned places which, like the customs 

 of the East, have been handed down from 

 father to sou, as if they had been stereotyped 

 from time immemorial. This, however, should 

 not now be the case, if there be space enough 

 for a different arrangement. In the old plaus 

 alluded to, the green-house, the plant-stove, 

 or botanical hot-houses, were attached to 

 those in which the culinary products were 

 reared, without any considerations of taste, or 

 suitableness whatever, entering into the minds 

 of their owners. In some instances it was a 

 work of necessity, and may still be in mode- 

 rately-sized gardens ; but where variety and 

 effect are taken into the calculation, " the 

 ornamental or curious productions of garden- 

 ing will be kept separate from those whose 

 beauty consists entirely or chiefly in their 

 utility. In this way two distinct and strongly 

 marked characters are produced, instead of 

 scenery ofa mixed and, as it were, neutralised 

 character." 



THE MELON- GROUND. 

 It is a practice pretty well established to 

 place the melon-ground in the slip. "Where 

 the range of the hot-houses occupies the north 

 wall, with such a degree of slope, or declivity, 

 as will shorten the shadow of this wall in 

 winter, when the sun is low, the melon-ground 

 may then most appropriately be placed in what 

 may be designated a bay of the slip behind 

 the north wall. Mr. Porsyth, as he usually 

 does, gives reasons for assigning a portion of 

 the outside slip next the stable to hot-beds 

 for raising melons and cucumbers. These are, 

 first, because there will be no litter to carry 

 within the walls to dirty the v/alks ; secondly, 

 the beds will not be seen from the garden ; 

 and, thirdly, there will be a convenience in 

 carrying the dung, by which a great deal of 

 9i0 



time will be saved in carting and wheeling. 

 It will be necessary, especially in exposed 

 situations, he says, to enclose the melon- 

 ground with either a wall or paling, from six 

 to eight feet high. It was formerly a prac- 

 tice to enclose melon-grounds with reed- 

 fences ; but although these are tolerably 

 warm, and are easily removed from one place 

 to anotber, being made in separate panels, 

 they are very apt to harbour vermin. It will 

 certainly be found the most convenient plan 

 to have the mould and compost-ground as 

 near to the melon-ground as possible : and 

 if placed between the pits and the hot-beds, 

 it will be all the better. This is Loudon's 

 opinion ; so that when the melon-ground is 

 placed in the bay behind the north wall, the 

 compost-ground will occupy a space which 

 would otherwise be too much shaded for hot- 

 beds or pits. 



DISTRIBUTION OF THE GARDEN AREa. 



The most propitious seasons for forming or 

 laying out a garden are those of the spring 

 and summer ; but at whatever period the opera- 

 tions are commenced, they should be disposed 

 in such a manner as to enable them to be 

 finished early in autumn, in order to admit of 

 the planting of fruit trees, and the laying 

 nicely the edges of the walks. When we 

 liave resolved to make a garden, the distri- 

 bution of its several compartments is neces- 

 sarily one of the primary considerations. In 

 this we must, in a great measure, be guided 

 by the form and size which we have deter- 

 mined to make it. " The best figure," says 

 Porsyth, " is a square, or oblong, where the 

 garden itself is of either of these forms ; but 

 if not, they may be laid out in any other figure 

 that is thought to be most convenient." In 

 some of our best gardens, the compartments 

 are laid out in beds four feet wide, with narrow 

 alleys. These alleys, however, occupy a large 

 space, and are, therefore, not to be recom- 

 mended for a small garden. Mr. Kelll 

 thinks that their " advantages of convenience 

 and neatness, in enabling the workmen to clean 

 and gather the crops without trampling the 

 ground, seem to compensate for the sacrifice 

 of space." Por currant, gooseberry, or rasp- 

 berry bushes, the compartments remain un- 

 divided ; whilst for large perennial plants, 



