148 TREATISE ON THE CULTURE AND 



In laying out the quarters, you must be guided in a great 

 measure by the form and size of the garden ; but do not lay 

 them out too small, as in that case a great part of the ground 

 will be taken up with walks. The best figure is a square or 

 oblong, when the garden is of that form ; but if not, they 

 may be laid out in any other figure that is thought to be most 

 convenient. 



The middle walks should be about seven feet, which is 

 wide enough to admit a cart ; and the others about three or 

 four feet broad ; with a border on each side, five or six feet 

 wide, at least, between the walk and the fruit-trees. Walks 

 in kkchen gardens are generally gravelled, and but seldom 

 laid with turf, as the frequent wheeling and treading soon de- 

 stroys the grass and renders them very unsightly : But a bind- 

 in';^ sand makes good walks and they are easily kept ; for when 

 moss or weeds begin to grow, they may be cleaned with a horse- 

 hoe, or scuffeled over v/ith a Dutch hoe, in dry weather, and 

 raked a day or two after, by which they will be made always 

 to look neat and clean. I, however, give the preference to 

 sea-coal ashes, which in my opinion make the best walks for a 

 kitchen garden, and they are easier kept than any other, being 

 firm and dry, and cleaner to walk on than sand, especially af- 

 ter frost. 



The bottoms of the walks should be filled up with brick 

 rubbish, chippings of stones, or gravel and stones; those raked 

 off the quarters will do very well, and by using them you will 

 save carriage. 



If the soil be stiff and wet, or subject to detain the mois- 

 ture, there must be under ground drains made to carry off the 

 water. In this case, let the main drain be made under the 

 walk, to receive and carry off the water from those under the 

 quarters. Draining, when the soil is wet, is absolutely neces- 

 sary, otherwise the trees will never produce good well-flavour- 

 ed fruit, and your kitchen plants will be much injured : The 

 drams also under the walks will keep them dry and firm, and 

 make them fit for carting and wheeling on in wet weather. 



The borders under the v/alls, in the inside, should be 

 from ten to twenty feet wide, according to the size of the gar- 

 den, to give full liberty to the roots of the trees to spread. 

 There should be a foot path about two feet and a half from the 

 wall, for the greater convenience of nailing the trees, gather- 

 ing the fruit, &c. This walk should be from two to two feet 

 and a half wide (to admit a barrow, or barrow engine for wa- 

 tering the trees), and covered with sand, or, which is better^ 



