Domestic Notices. 91 



calculated to contain about 550 fruit-trees, at twelve feet apart every way. 

 As the apple-trees, however, will mostly be trained en buisson, and many of 

 the pear-trees en quenouille, eight or ten feet apart will generally be found 

 sufficient : so that the number of trees may be greatly increased. It is 

 here intended to form a collection of all the best varieties of hardy fruits, 

 to be procured in this country, and from the continents of Europe and 

 America : which will be brought with the utmost diligence into a bearing 

 state, in order that the kinds may be proved, and the nomenclature fixed. 

 We shall thus ascertain with precision those kinds best suited to the climate 

 of Scotland ; grafts or buds of which will be subsequently distributed to 

 the members. 



b, Central enclosed Experimental Garden. — A portion of ground en- 

 closed by a holly hedge, with a door to be kept under lock and key, for 

 select experiments. 



c, The Culinarium or Kitchen Garden, containing nearly an acre of 

 ground. — Besides paying every attention to the more ordinary kinds 

 worthy of cultivation, all the new or little-known varieties of culinary 

 vegetables will be fairly tried, in beds of considerable extent; and the re- 

 lative advantages of various modes of culture determined. A copious 

 supply of water is conveyed to a cistern in the centre of this compartment. 



d, Compartments for an ample assortment of Stocks of different kinds 

 for grafting or budding: such as Paradise and Doucin Stocks for Ap- 

 ples : Quince Stocks for Pears : Plum and Almond Stocks for Peaches, 

 Nectarines, Apricots and Plums : and Guin and Mahaleb Stocks for 

 Cherries. 



e, Nurseries for rearing Seedlings, Offsetts, Cuttings, and Layers of the 

 rarer trees and shrubs. 



f, Principal Wall, with a south aspect, for the finer kinds of fruit trees : 

 as Peaches, Nectarines, Apricots, Cherries, Almonds, the best French and 

 Flemish Pears, Figs, Quinces, and hardy Grape- Vines, with an exempli- 

 fication of the different modes of training. This wall is in general 14 feet 

 high : 402 feet are built of coursed freestone, 15 of coursed whinstone, 

 and 210 are faced with brick. Three kinds of coping have also been 

 adopted for different portions of the wall. The border in the front is 

 eighteen feet broad, and is formed in the most efficient manner, with a 

 compost which has been long in preparation- Part of it has been laid 

 with a bottom impenetrable to the roots of the trees. On this border, 

 also, it is intended to raise the choicest annual esculent vegetables ; and 

 in this warm situation, some of the rarer varieties may be expected to 

 ripen their seed, and ultimately become more hardy. 



g, Walled Experimental Garden. — An enclosed space in the north-east 

 angle of the ground, enjoying the advantage of walls, with south and west 

 aspects, to which new or rare fruit trees and delicate shrubs may be 

 trained. Part of this enclosure is to be devoted to the naturalization of 

 tender exotics. This, and the compartment b, will be kept locked, and 

 under the immediate charge of the society's gardener, in whose presence 

 they may be visited by the members. 



h, The East slip ; — having a wall eight feet in height, with a west aspect, 

 for new varieties of dwarf fruit trees, and a nursery border for raising new 

 plants from seed. 



i, Eastern Division of South Slip. — A fine border sloping to the south, 

 well adapted for the cultivation of strawberries; and where the different 

 species and varieties, at present in great confusion in Scotland, may be 

 correctly ascertained and distinguished. 



k, Western Division of South Slip; — intended for a collection of 

 the small fruits, such as gooseberries, currants, and raspberries. Those 

 varieties which require a deeper and richer soil, and a more sheltered situ- 

 ation, will be commodiously placed between the rows of trees in the lower 

 division of the orchard. 



