ENCLOSING, LAYING OUT. 



9 



pear and the cherry ; and, in May, the dwarf, or espaUer, apple- 

 trees, are just so many hnmense garlands of carnations. The walks 

 are unshaded : they are not greasy or covered with moss, in the 

 spring of the year, like those in the shrubberies : to watch the 

 progress of the crops is by no means unentertaining to any rational 

 creature ; and the kitchen-garden gives you all this long before the 

 ornamental part of the garden affords you anything worth looking 

 at. Therefore, I see no reason for placing the kitchen-garden in 

 some out-of-the-way place, at a distance from the mansion-house, 

 as if it were a mere necessary evil, and unworthy of being viewed 

 by the owner. In the time of fruiting, where shall we find any- 

 thing much more beautiful to behold than a tree loaded with cher- 

 ries, peaches, or apricots, but particularly the two latter ? It is 

 curious enough that people decorate their chimney-pieces with 

 imitations of these beautiful fruits, while they seem to think nothing 

 at all of the originals hanging upon the tree, with all the elegant 

 accompaniments of flourishing branches, buds, and leaves. 



17. We must take, as I said before, the best ground that w-e 

 have ; and, for my part, I w ould take it almost any-where, except in 

 the front of a mansion-house. It must absolutely be open to the 

 south : well-sheltered, if it can be, from the north and from the 

 east ; but open to the south it must be, or you can have neither 

 fine wall fruit, nor early crops of garden-plants. If you can have 

 the slope, such as I have described it to have been at Waverley, 

 it is easy to make a flat before the face of the wall, on the north 

 side of the garden : but to have the whole of a garden upon a slope 

 is by no means desirable ; for, however gentle the slope may be, 

 the water will run off ; and, in certain cases, it is absolutely neces- 

 sary that the water should not run away ; but have time to soak 

 gently into the ground. I have had great opportunity of acquiring 

 knowledge in this respect. Part of my ground at Kensington forms 

 a very gentle slope. The soil of this slope is as good, both at top 

 and bottom, as any ground in the world ; but I have always per- 

 ceived that seeds never rise there with the same alacrity and the 

 same vigour that they do upon the level part, though there the soil 

 is much inferior. This is particularly the case with regard to 

 strawberries, which will grow, blow like a garland, and even bear 

 pretty numerously, on the side of a bank where scarcely any 

 moisture can lodge ; but which I have never seen produce large 

 and fine fruit except upon the level. The same may be said of 



