THE MANSE GARDEN. 93 



soon discover, is a little different from that usually 

 made with twine ; but this is the distinguishing pro- 

 perty of such ligatures, that they do not cut the bark by 

 contracting, when wetted, as hemp does : they shrink 

 with dryness, not as to length but thickness, and thus 

 grow slacker in the summer's sun as the branches 

 they hold increase in the summer's growth. 



Supplimentary to both wall and espaliers is the 

 following device, which has proved eminently success- 

 ful. Supposing that you have more garden ground 

 than is necessary for the supply of vegetables, and 

 that some part of it may be spared for a green shady 

 walk amidst shrubs mingled with standard fruit trees ; 

 on the south side of a row of evergreens, impervious 

 to the eye, let a dry stone wall be raised to the height 

 of four or five feet, and coped with large stones, 

 merely for strength and durability. Plant this on 

 the north side with ivy to assist the screen of shrubs, 

 and in a short while not one stone will appear. From 

 the south side take away all the good soil to a depth 

 of two feet, a breadth of five feet, and a length equal 

 to that of the wall, which may be sixty or a hundred 

 feet, as you find convenient. This excavation, it is 

 to be understood, runs close by the building, the 

 foundation of which must, of course, have been se- 

 cured by perhaps a foot of depth, and which will yet 

 be uninjured, as the stones that cast up in removing 

 the earth will immediately be thrown to the base in 

 room of the materials taken away. Thus an effec- 

 tual provision is made against the springing up of 

 docks, nettles, or other troublesome weeds ; the earth 

 removed will be an invaluable treasure, whether for 

 making compost or helping a thin soil, and the exca- 



