20 FRUIT AND KITCHEN GAEDEN. 



wards the south, will bo seen at once, and produce a 

 pleasing effect. Sometimes a lateral entrance is very 

 suitable, leading, it may be supposed, from the flower- 

 garden through an intermediate shrubbery, and coming 

 upon the hot-houses in flank. It is delightful to be in- 

 troduced at once and by surprise into a Slip, as it is 

 called, where on the one hand there is an extent of wall 

 covered with luxuriant fruit-trees in full bearing, and 

 on the other is displayed a rich collection of ornamental 

 shrubs and large perennial border-flowers. 



Form. — The shape of a garden, it is obvious, must 

 chiefly be determined by the nature of the situation, and 

 the taste of the proprietor. In general, gardens are 

 eitlier squares or. oblongs, chiefly, it is presumed, because 

 Walls of this configuration contain the greatest space 

 within the least perimeter, a result of very questionable 

 value. They may be of any form, with this limitation, 

 that attention should be paid to facilitating the trans- 

 port of manures and garden products, for when the 

 grounds are straggling, or complicated in structure, the 

 labor of cultivation is much increased. 



Exterior Fence. — Most English gardens are encircled 

 by an outer boundary, formed by a sunk wall or ha-ha, 

 surmounted by an invisible wire-fence to exclude hares, 

 or by a hedge or paling. Occasionally this sunk wall is 

 placed on the exterior of the screen plantations, and 

 walks lead out among the trees, to give favorable 

 views of the adjacent country. Although the interior 

 garden necessarily receives its form from the walls, the 

 ring-fence and plantations may, with propriety, be 

 adapted to the shape and surface of the ground. The 

 spaces between the outer fence and the walls are^, as 

 already noticed, called Slips, and, where circumstances 



