HOW TO MAKE A KITCHEN GARDEN 387 



enclosed by walls ; it will be necessary to have a hedge outside 

 them as a protection for the trees growing against the outer 

 side of the former. This valuable space would be wasted were 

 it not protected by another enclosure. 



One word must be said against the practice of having the 

 kitchen garden in some out-of-the-way corner. During the 

 months of April and May, what part of the garden can equal 

 in beauty the kitchen garden ? Then it is that the Apple, 

 Pear, Plum, and Cherry Trees are in full blossom (for it is 

 presumed that the fruit and kitchen garden are one). Not 

 even the most beautiful hardy flowering shrubs are more 

 charming, or so burdened with blossom. It is not suggested 

 that the kitchen garden should be formed in front of the 

 dwelling-house, but it might with advantage be within easy 

 access. It is wise to make it beautiful throughout the 

 summer by planting suitable flowering-plants by the prin- 

 cipal walks. 



The Soil. The best soil in which to grow vegetables is 

 a rich loam as a surface, with a subsoil that allows the 

 moisture gently to escape. Soils that consist chiefly of 

 either clay or gravel require much cultivation before they 

 will produce good crops, and should therefore be avoided. 

 Chalk, providing that it is not too near the surface, is pre- 

 ferable as an ingredient to either clay or gravel, for the 

 former is apt to become waterlogged, and therefore cold and 

 unwholesome during the winter, and the latter has little of 

 what for want of a better name may be termed " body," so 

 that during the summer it practically dries up unless much 

 labour be expended in mulching and watering. It is rarely, 

 however, that one can find a soil that is all it should be, and 

 one has therefore to improve it. The great value of a refuse 

 heap as a soil improver is not generally known ; at any rate 

 it does not appear to be largely taken advantage of. By 

 collecting road scrapings, vegetable refuse, dead leaves, old 

 soil turned out of flower-pots, &c., into a heap, and mixing 

 with this, from time to time, wood ashes, lime, soapsuds, &c., 

 a quantity of most valuable garden food will be provided. 

 For digging into light land such material does more good 

 than rank farmyard manure, and is easily and cheaply ob- 

 tained. It is wise to allow farmyard manure to ferment 

 before using, by making heaps and turning these frequently. 

 Heavy soil can be ameliorated by the mixing in of wood 

 ashes, road scrapings, lime, and brick rubble, river sand, 

 lumps of burnt clay, &c. An excellent method of disposing 

 of old cabbage stumps, or the remains of a winter crop that 



