HOOK I. 



WATER. 



465 



natural soil is deemed too light, to that also must be added a portion of what is more 

 cohesive, &c. It may be observed, however, that the 



general object in selecting, forming, or improving the 

 soil for a kitchen-garden, is to obtain, as Nicol 

 expresses it, " a loam of a middle texture rather 

 inclining to sand," such soil being easy to work, little 

 affected by either droughts, rains, or frosts ; and the 

 greater part of the valuable kinds of kitchen-vegetables 

 delighting in it. All the authors we have quoted 

 above may be said to agree in desiring such a soil for 

 the whole of the kitchen-garden. In peculiar situ- 

 ations, as where villas are built on rocky steeps, and 

 other romantic situations, it may become a matter of 

 great difficulty and expense to bring soil from a 

 distance ; and it may also be found equally difficult 

 to find a bed for it, by the removal of rock, &c. In 

 such cases, all that can be done is to select the most 

 favorable spots (Jig. 420. a, a) ; cultivate them to the 

 utmost, connect them by walks and shrubbery ; and 

 place the economical buildings attached to the garden 

 (b], and hot-houses, &c. (e), in the most commodious 

 situations, and where they will not interfere with 

 general effects. There are many very productive 

 gardens of this description in the north of Scotland, 

 and in the territory of Genoa. 



420 



SECT. VI, Water. 



2423. A copious supply of water is essential to a good kitchen-garden, and, from 

 whatever source it is furnished, should be distributed either in reservoirs or open cisterns, 

 or in pipes, properly protected, over the garden, and in hot-houses. If the supply is 

 from a pond or river, a system of lead or cast-iron pipes may be adopted, and the 

 delivery effected by cocks at proper distances ; but if from wells or springs, the delivery 

 should be into open stone or cast-iron cisterns ; or, in default of these, into tubs or 

 butts sunk in the earth. In Tuscany, where the inhabitants excel in the manufacture of 

 pottery, immense jars of earthenware are frequently adopted ; in the Royal Garden at 

 Paris, sunk barrels ; and cisterns of masonry, lined with cement, are general in the best 

 gardens on the continent. In these gardens, a system of watering is adopted, which, 

 though rendered more necessary there by the climate, than it can possibly be in this 

 country, yet in various respects deserves imitation. 



2424. Many kitchen-crops are lost, or produced of very inferior quality for want of wctering. Lettuces 

 and cabbages are often hard and stringy ; turnips and radishes do not swell, onions decay, cauliflowers 

 die off, and, in general, in dry seasons, all the crutiferece become stinted, or covered with insects, even in 

 rich deep soils. Copious waterings in the evenings, during the dry seasons, would produce that fulness 

 and succulency which we find in the vegetables produced in the Low Countries, and in the Marsh Gar- 

 dens at Paris ; and in this country at the beginning and latter end of the season. The vegetables brought 

 to the London market from the Neat's Houses, and other adjoining gardens, where the important article 

 of watering is much more attended to than in private country-gardens, may be adduced as affording 

 proofs of the advantage of the practice. 



2425. The watering the foliage of fruit and other trees to destroy or prevent the increase of insects, 

 and of strawberries and fruit-shrubs to swell the fruit, is also of importance ; and though the climate of 

 Scotland is less obnoxious to great droughts, than that of the southern counties, yet we find that excellent 

 horticultural architect, John Hay, adopting a system of watering in various gardens lately formed by him 

 in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh. 



2426. The contrivance for watering or washing the foliage of the wall-trees in Dalmeny garden, laid out 

 by this artist, deserves particular notice. Water is supplied to the garden from a reservoir, situated on 

 an eminence, a considerable height above the garden-walls. Around the whole garden, four inches below 

 the surface of the ground, a groove, between two and three inches deep, has been formed in the walls, 

 to receive a three-quarter inch pipe for conducting the water. About fifty feet distant from each other 

 are apertures through the wall, two feet and a half high, and ten inches wide, in which a cock is placed, 

 so that on turning the handle to either side of the wall, the water issues from that side. The nozzles of 

 the cocks have screws on each side, to which is attached at pleasure a leathern pipe, with a brass cock 

 and director ; roses, pierced with holes of different sizes, being fitted to the latter. By this contrivance, 

 all the trees, both inside and outside the wall, can be most effectually watered and washed in a very short 

 space of time, and with very little trouble. One man may go over the whole in two hours. At the same 

 time the borders, and even a considerable part of the compartments, can be watered with the greatest ease 

 when required. The conveniency and utility of this contrivance must at once be perceived by every 

 practical horticulturist. The same plan of introducing water is adopted in a garden which J. Hay 

 planned and executed for Lord V. Duncan, at Lundie-House, near Dundee ; and after the experience of 

 several years, it has been greatly approved of. The water at Lundie is conveyed to the garden from a 

 considerable height, and is thrown from the point of the director with great force, and to a good distance. 

 (Edin. Encyc. art. Hort.) 



2427. Water in a garden is absolutely necessary, according to Justice; well-water is 

 far from being proper, but that which is impregnated by the sun's rays is highly condu- 



