THE KITCHEN GARDEN 191 



the kitchen garden and the remainder of our pleasance 

 wiU, we hope, disappear, and with the return of the 

 main gardens to the older methods, there will be a 

 harmony between the useful and charming qualities 

 of both. Our only aim will be to preserve and 

 confirm the simple lines which were set out so many 

 years ago. 



The kitchen garden requires shelter first and fore- 

 most, and this can be satisfactorily obtained only 

 by high walls. This initial ouday must be met, and 

 although, in small gardens, hedges and fences may 

 often be made to serve, they cannot vie with the 

 solid wall in efficiency or in general usefulness. The 

 wall, unlike the hedge, takes no nourishment fi-om 

 the ground, and it will yield a fine harvest of fruit 

 from the trees trained up its sides. Proper economy 

 of space in vegetable and firuit growing requires 

 method and a formal arrangement in straight lines ; 

 for this reason the enclosure should be rectangular, 

 its walls should have few openings in them, and 

 the general character of the boundaries should be 

 as restful and solid as possible. The walls, of 

 a height from seven to twelve feet, should have 

 a projecting coping to throw the rain dear of the 



