8 



THE GAEDENEE'S ASSISTANT. 



occupied with Apricots, Plums, Cherries, and 

 Pears. It is not absolutely necessary that the 

 southern aspect should face or be exactly at 

 right angles to the sun's rays at the hours 

 mentioned, nor that the eastern and western 

 walls should follow the direction of the hour- 

 lines. Nevertheless, the hour-lines are a con- 

 venient guide, and they may be easily found 

 with sufficient accuracy by a good watch, 

 allowance being made for the equation of time. 



Table of the Angles which the Hour-Lines form with the 

 Meridian, or Twelve o'clock Line, for every half degree 

 of Latitude, from 50° to 59°. 



Latitude. 



A.M. 

 11. 



P.M. A.M. 

 1. 10. 



P.M. 

 2. 



A.M. 

 9. 



P.M. 

 3. 



A.M. 



8. 



P.M. 

 4. 



A.M. P.M. 



7. 5. 



50° 00' 



11° 



38' I 23° 



51' 



37° 



27' 



53° 



0' 



70° 43' 



50 30 



11 



41 1 24 



1 



37 



40 53 



11 



70 51 



51 00 



11 



46 I 24 



10 



37 



51 53 



24 



70 58 



51 30 



11 



51 [ 24 



19 



38 



4 



53 



36 



71 6 



52 00 



11 



55 24 



27 



38 



14 



53 



46 



71 13 



52 30 



12 



00 24 



36 



38 



25 



53 



58 



71 20 



53 00 



12 



5 | 24 



45 



38 



37 



54 



8 



71 27 



53 30 



12 



9 



24 



54 



38 



48 54 



19 



71 34 



54 00 



12 



14 



25 



2 



38 



58 54 



29 



71 40 



54 30 



12 



18 



25 



10 



39 



8 



54 



39 



71 47 



55 00 



12 



23 



25 



19 



39 



19 



54 



49 



71 53 



55 30 



12 



28 



25 



27 



39 



29 



54 



59 



71 59 



56 00 



12 



32 25 



35 



39 



40 



55 



8 



72 5 



56 30 



12 



36 j 25 



45 



39 



50 



55 



18 



72 12 



57 00 



12 



40 1 25 



51 



39 



59 



55 



27 



72 17 



57 30 



12 



44 1 25 



58 



40 



9 



55 



37 



72 22 



58 00 



12 



48 1 26 



5 



40 



18 



55 



45 



72 27 



58 30 



12 



52 j 26 



13 



40 



27 



55 



54 



72 33 



59 00 



12 



56 26 



20 



40 



36 



56 



2 



72 39 



For a place in latitude 52° 30', it will be seen, 

 by referring to the above table, that the eleven 

 o'clock line forms an angle of 12° with the 

 meridian, or twelve o'clock line; the one o'clock 

 line forms the same angle, but, of course, on 

 the opposite side. Those who are acquainted 

 with practical geometry, or with the rules of 

 trigonometry, will easily find the means of 

 laying off with sufficient exactness the above or 

 any other angle. 



The space most eligible for a garden, as 

 regards soil and other circumstances, may not 

 admit of any of the forms we have recom- 

 mended; nevertheless, the best form should in 

 all cases be approximated as much as possible. 

 If length from north to south can be obtained, 

 but not from east to west, then the requisite 

 extent of south aspect may be secured by one 

 or more walls running across the garden. In 

 hot summers certain fruits will ripen on a direct 

 east or west aspect; but they will only do so 

 imperfectly in ordinary seasons. We should 

 not, however, be guided by exceptions. It is 

 much better to have one good aspect than two 

 that are indifferent. 



The form of the garden must now be con- 



sidered with regard to the extent of wall, and 

 the area enclosed thereby; for some forms re- 

 quire a much greater length to enclose a given 

 area than others. Within any given extent of 

 outline, the circle contains the greatest area; 

 next to it regular polygons; these figures, 

 however, are but little adopted in gardens, more 

 especially in fruit and kitchen gardens. For 

 such, rectilinear four-sided figures are the most 

 convenient; and of all these, the square contains 

 the greatest area in proportion to the extent of 

 outline. This form is therefore the one to be 

 adopted, when the object is to enclose by four 

 sides as much ground as possible within the 

 least extent of wall. The more any four-sided 

 figure deviates from a square, either as regards 

 the similarity of the angles or the equality of 

 the sides, the less will be the area enclosed, 

 compared with the length of the boundary. 

 For example, if two acres be enclosed in the 

 form of a square, the length of the boundary 

 will be about 11 80 \ feet, and the length of 

 each side about 295 feet. With the same 

 length of sides, but thrown a little out of the 

 square so as to form a rhombus, as in fig. 791, 

 the area would be nearly 7 J rods short of 2 

 acres. 



The total length of wall that would be re- 

 quired to enclose a square of 2 acres, would 

 not enclose so much by 20 rods, if the figure 

 was a parallelogram, of which the length is to 

 the breadth as five to three. For 2 acres this 

 form would require to be in length 381 feet, 

 and in breadth 228 J feet; consequently the 

 total length of enclosure would be 1219 feet. 

 It may here be observed that the expense of 

 enclosing a garden is greater, in proportion to 

 the quantity of ground enclosed, for a small 

 garden than for a large one. Thus the total 

 length of enclosure for — 



1 acre, in the form of a square, would be 835 feet. 



2 acres, „ „ 1,180 



1,446 

 1,670 

 1,866 

 2,045 



From this it appears that whilst 4 acres 

 require 1670 feet, one-fourth of the length of 

 wall will not enclose one-fourth of the area; for 

 1 acre requires just half as much walling as 4 

 acres. Of course a large garden must require 

 more to enclose it than a small one; but, at the 

 same time, the larger the garden the less will be 

 the expense per acre enclosed. Supposing the 

 walls to be 1 2 feet above ground, with a founda- 

 tion 3 feet deep, in all 15 feet from base to top, 



