COUNTRY VILLAS. 151) 



246. The kitchen-garden sliould be near the stable offices, for the supply of" 

 manure ; and so placed, that it may be at no great distance from the house, 

 for the convenience of daily bringing to the kitchen the vegetables which it 

 produces. It is also desirable to have the kitchen-garden so situated that 

 ready access may be had to it by the master and mistress ; because, in all 

 small places, it is a part of the out-door establishment which is more frequently 

 visited by the family than any other; being always interesting from the 

 variety of operations carrying on in it, and the constant succession of pro- 

 ductions in which the mistress of the family, more particularly, taki-s a 

 daily interest. If the kitchen-garden be placed near the offices, it will 

 necessarily be situated between the house and the entrance-lodge ; and, con- 

 sequently, be readily accessible to carts bringing manure, or soils, or other 

 materials for the garden, from a distance, and also to the visits of neighbour- 

 ing gardeners. In many small places, it is, for this reason, convenient to 

 have the kitchen-garden near that part of the boundary which lies along the 

 public road, in order to have a carriage entrance directly from the lattei'. 

 This is also very frequently the case with the stable offices, in order to admit 

 of bringing in hay, straw, corn, &c.. without carting these along the approach- 

 road to the mansion. Where, however, the house is placed at a distance from the 

 public road, this can neither be the case with the kitchen garden nor the 

 stable offices ; for, in residences of limited extent, nothing will compensate 

 for having these essential parts of an establishment at a distance from the 

 centre, to which they are to contribute their quota of comfort and enjoyment. 

 The kitchen-garden should consist of a wall for the growth of the finer hardy 

 fruits, which wall is generally made to surround the enclosure ; borders, 

 protected by the wall, or by hedges or temporary screens, for growing early 

 crops; open compartu.ents, unencumbered by standard trees, for the culture 

 of the main crops of culinary vegetables ; a reserve-ground, or nursery, for 

 bringing forward plants in their young state, till they are fit to transplant 

 where they are finally to remain, as well as for keeping a stock to supply 

 blanks occasioned by accidental deaths ; and a forcing-ground. The borders, 

 and the compartments of the main garden, are generally laid out in the form 

 of a parallelogram or square, and enclosed by a wall with a border on the 

 outside, in order that fruit trees may be trained on that side of the wall, as 

 well as on the inside. The reserve -garden and forcing-ground are usually 

 included in a small square or parallelogram; at one end, or on one side, of 

 the large square, and in or near this small square, is generally placed the 

 gardener's house. The forcing-houses may consist of pits of different dimen- 

 sions, heated by flues or hoi water ; of wooden frames, placed on open brick- 

 work, and heated by outside linings of dung, tan, or leaves ; and of walled 

 pits, not heated by artifiLial means, but simply protected by a covering of 

 glass. Forcing-houses, in the general sense in which that expression is under- 

 stood, may now be altogether di pensed with in moderate-sized gardens ; and 

 thus the great expense both of their original construction, and annual repairs 

 of glass, &c., may be avoided. A forcing- house, such as was constructed 

 thirty or foi-ty years ago, consists of a glass roof, more or less lofty, and 

 placed against a high wall ; a glass front, and glass ends; with the interior 

 laid out with at least one walk, which is generally paved ; or with a raised 

 bed in the centre, surrovmded by parapet walls, flues, and a paved walk. A 

 pit, on the other hand, such as is now built in the best forcing-grounds, 



