26 



SITUATION, SOIL, 



[chap. 



the steel-trap and spring-gim system ; and, for my own part, mor- 

 tified as I should be at spoliations committed in the garden, I 

 would submit to them, and even to the destruction of the garden 

 itself, rather than disgrace my premises by such terrific threats. 



39. The door- way at a lets you into a short path to another 

 door- way in the wall at h. Through these door- ways the materials 

 naturally go for the making of hot-beds ; and, therefore, the hot- 

 bed ground, d, is the first part of the walled garden into which 

 you enter. I will, before I go further, give a particular description 

 of this hot-bed ground, w^hich is by no means an unimportant part 

 of the concern. It is fifty-eight feet and a half from east to west, 

 and sixty-three feet from north to south. A door goes out of it 

 at another door at These door- ways lead to the several parts 

 of the garden, and are convenient outlets for all purposes whatso- 

 ever. There is, you will perceive, the wall on the north side of this 

 hot-bed ground, and the wall on the west side. The other t^vo 

 sides should be bounded by a hedge ; and that edge should be of 

 yew. The fences to hot bed grounds are frequently made of reed, 

 ^vhich are very good for the purpose of shelter ; but which are dead- 

 looking things at the best. The fences to such places are some- 

 times made of hornbeam ; but this sort of hedge loses its leaves in 

 the winter, and is of little use precisely at the season when it is 

 most wanted. The yew is evergreen. It is by no means difficult 

 to make grow ; it does not grow^ slowly ; it is clipped into any 

 form that you please ; regularly clipped, it remains in the same 

 form for ever ; it is as close at the bottom as in the middle of its 

 height ; it has all the regularity of a wall itself ; and, in such a 

 case, it is a great deal better than a wall, because it occasions no 

 recoiling or reverberation of the wind. The height of the hedge 

 should not much exceed six feet, for then it would shade part of 

 the beds ; and it is hardly necessary to say that it should be kept 

 regularly clipped twice in the year, in the same manner as is di- 

 rected for the hawthorn hedge. There should not only be door- 

 ways atp and but doors also ; otherwdse the wind w^ould sweep 

 in, and, in part, defeat the object of the hedge. Hardly any family 

 can want a greater space than this for the raising of things for 

 wdiich hot-beds are necessary ; and, if the space were found to be 

 larger than was wanted, this w ould be a very good place for the de- 

 positing of a heap of compost or any other thing which is unsightly, 

 and which, if not somewhat hidden, would disfigure the garden. 



