1028 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



PART III. 



and elm, should be planted in, or if possible, even near the cottager's garden ; as these are ruinous to 

 crops ; the first both by its shade and roots, and the latter by its roots, which spread rapidly to a great ex- 

 tent, close under the surface. The oak is the tree the least injurious to gardens. 



7311. Variation may be made in this extent of accommodation, by adopting a different form for the 

 ground-plan of the plot ; by different inclinations of surfaces, kinds of fence, sort of materials used for the 

 roof and walls of the house, coloring of the walls, and above all, by adopting different styles of architecture. 

 But whatever is done in this respect, no attempt at ornament or picturesque effect should be made which 

 is at variance with comfort ; latticed windows are cold and comfortless ; chimney-flues tortured in their 

 direction, with a view to fixing the stack of chimney-tops in some particular point, occasion smoky apart- 

 ments. A variety of other deviations from common practice made to gratify the eye of the beholder, 

 without any reference to the inhabitant, might be mentioned; but we shall only add, that whatever is 

 most comfortable and durable will please the best in the long run. 



SECT. II. Public Gardens. 



7312. Public gardens are either designed for recreation, instruction, or commercial pur- 

 poses. The first include equestrian and pedestrian promenades ; the second, botanic and 

 experimental gardens ; and the third, public nurseries, market-gardens, florists' gardens, 

 orchards, seed-gardens, and herb-gardens. 



SUBSECT. 1. Public Gardens for Recreation. 



7313. Public parks, or equestrian promenades, are valuable appendages to large cities. 

 Extent and a free air are the principal requisites, and the roads should be arranged so as 

 to produce few intersections ; but at the same time so as carriages may make either the 

 tour of the whole scene, or adopt a shorter tour at pleasure. In the course of long roads, 

 there ought to be occasional bays or side expansions to admit of carriages separating from 

 the course, halting or turning. Where such promenades are very extensive, they are fur- 

 nished with places of accommodation and refreshment, both for men and horses ; this is a 

 valued part of their arrangement for occasional visitors from a distance, or in hired vehi- 

 cles. Our continental neighbors have hitherto greatly excelled us in this department of 

 gardening ; almost every town of consequence having its promenades for the citizens a 

 cheval and also au pied. Till lately, Hyde Park, at London, and a spot called the Mea- 

 dows, near Edinburgh, were the only equestrian gardens in Britain ; and neither were 

 well arranged. But in 1810, the Regent's Park was commenced from a suggestion of 

 W. Fordyce, Esq., the late surveyor of woods and forests, and it promises to be a scene 

 worthy of the metropolis. It is only to be regretted, that the space available to the public 

 is so much curtailed by interspersed villas, and surrounding rows of houses and gardens : 

 for though from the number of trees, the wealthy citizen who can view the scenery from 

 his horse or coach may recognise the park character ; yet by rendering so great an extent 

 of the surface private property, the wanderings of the pedestrian are limited, and his views 

 of the scenery confined. 



7314. The public garden of 

 Carlsruhe (jig. 732.), and the 

 town, founded by the Mar- 

 grave Charles William in 1715, 

 are formed to correspond with 

 each other. The palace (a) 

 is noticed by Sulzer (Theorie 

 des beaux Arts, &c). and by 

 Hirschfield (Theorie des Jar- 

 dins, &c. vol. iv. p. 416.)> as 

 one of the finest in Germany, 

 and remarkable for having the 

 wings at an oblique angle to 

 the main building. Behind, 

 exactly in the centre of the cir- 

 cular carriage-promenade (6), 

 is a tower (c), which commands 

 a bird's-eye view of the whole 

 park, pleasure and kitchen gar- 

 dens (d), and the town and 

 church (e^. The whole is on 

 level ground, and joined to a 

 natural forest. In the town 

 many English and other foreign 

 artisans were settled. Among 

 the trees near the palace, are 



some of the finest old tulip-trees, planes, bignonias, sumachs, acacias, cedars, and other 

 exotic trees in Germany. 



7315. Boulevards (Boulevard, Fr., or round work ; a bulwark, or great bastion, or ram- 



732 



