CHAPTER VI 
KITCHEN-GARDEN AND ORCHARD 
HiTHERTOo we have mainly considered that part of garden 
design which has for its object the production of pleasant 
scenes, of pictures formed by gay flowers, and beauteous 
carpets and backgrounds of greenery. But utilitarian 
ends have yet to be served, and fruits and vegetables 
must be grown to supply our needs. There need be 
nothing dull or prosaic about the kitchen-garden and 
orchard, distinct though they be from that which is 
purely ornamental. The truest garden pictures are often 
to be found in these seemingly severe and business-like 
quarters, and these without in any way varying the 
keynote of utility, which is the chief reason for their 
existence. 
A foolish prejudice has of recent years been raised 
against the kitchen-garden, and the designer is often 
asked to hide it away in some remote corner of the plan. 
It must be carefully screened away from the gaze of 
visitors, as though there were something to be ashamed 
of in being the possessor of a piece of ground, where 
the best of fruits may be grown, and gathered in the 
freshest condition. Personally I would rather wander 
in such plebeian quarters than in many of the tricked- 
out landscape gardens which excite such wonderment and 
admiration. Are there not a thousand sights dear to the 
heart of the nature lover—the tender blossoms of the 
fruit-trees, the drowsy hum of bees, the old-fashioned 
lavender hedges and reserve borders of mixed flowers 
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