BOOK I. 



SHELTER AND SHADE. 



459 



hot-houses (d) and hot-beds (/) may be placed, and more delicate culinary crops (/j) cul- 

 tivated, in an artificial basin or hollow, which will have the advantage of being sheltered 

 both naturally and artificially, and on a steep exposed to the south, will have a powerful 

 influence in accumulating heat in winter from the sun's rays. The south borders of such 

 gardens (I, in), and the walls heated by furnaces (7), will frequently be found to produce 

 earlier crops than gardens placed on level surfaces and in low sheltered situations. 



419 



2405. Shelter may in part be derived from the natural shape and situation of the ground. 

 Gentle declivities, Neill observes, at the bases of the south or south-west sides of hills, or 

 the sloping banks of winding rivers, with a similar exposure, are therefore very desirable. 

 If plantations exist in the neighbourhood of the house, or of the site intended for the 

 house, the planner of a garden naturally looks to them for his principal shelter ; taking 

 care, however, to keep at a reasonable distance from them, so as to guard against the evil 

 of being shaded. If the plantations be young, and contain beech, elm, oak, and other tall- 

 growing trees, allowance is of course made for the future progress of the trees in height. 

 It is a rule that there should be no tall trees on the south side of a garden, to a very con- 

 siderable distance; for, during winter and early spring, they fling their lengthened 

 shadows into the garden, at a time when every sunbeam is valuable. On the east also, 

 they must be sufficiently removed to admit the early morning rays. The advantage of 

 this is conspicuous in the spring months, when hoar-frost often rests on the tender buds 

 and flowers : if this be gradually dissolved, no harm ensues ; but if the blossom be all at 

 once exposed to the powerful rays of the advancing sun, when he overtops the trees, the 

 sudden transition from cold to heat often proves destructive. On the west, and particu- 

 larly on the north, trees may approach nearer, perhaps within less than a hundred feet, 

 and be more crowded, as from these directions the most violent and the coldest winds 

 assail us. If forest-trees do not previously exist on the territory, screen-plantations must 

 be reared as fast as possible. The sycamore (Acer pseudo-platanus) is of the most rapid 

 growth, making about six feet in a season ; next to it may be ranked the larch, which 

 gains about four feet ; and then follow the spruce and balm of Gilead firs, which grow 

 between three and four feet in the year. (Edin. Encyc. art. Hort.} 



2406. A garden should be well sheltered from the north and east, to prevent the blight- 

 ing winds from affecting the trees ; and also from the westerly winds, which are very hurt- 



