INTRODUCTION. 



7 



size and form of the garden, and the mciination of its sur- 

 face." ^' I^lany low walls, or stout ranges of paling," Aber- 

 crombie observes, will produce a greater total eifect, in 

 accelerating fruit, than the same expenditure in high walls." 

 " Fruit wails, five or six feet high," Hitt remarks, " will 

 do very well for peaches, cherries, vines, and tigs ; but he 

 would not advise tiie planting of apricots, plums, or pears, 

 on such walls, they requiring more room, and to stand 

 longer before they bear. Garden w^alls have been coloured 

 white or black, and the latter colour is justly preferred as 

 absorbhig and refracting more heat than any other, and 

 thereby accelerating the maturity, and improving the quali 

 ty of fruits." — H. JDawes, in Hart. Trans, vol. iii. p. 380. 



To assist in determining the extent of a garden, Marshall 

 observes, that an acre^ with wall trees, hot beds, &c. will 

 furnish employment for one man, who, at some busy times, 

 will need assistance. Loudon says, To give some rules 

 for the quantity of ground to be laid out, a family of four 

 persons, (exclusive of servants,) should have a rood of 

 good-working, open ground, and so in proportion." Mr. 

 Armstrong observes, that "The size and shape of the 

 kitchen garden are not indifferent, but admit of no positive 

 rules for their regulatioji, because depending on circum- 

 stances rarely alike in tw^o cases — the nature of the ground, 

 and the wants and ability of the occupier. On these heads, 

 therefore, we only say, that a parallelogram and a square are 

 ti.e forms most approved, because most susceptible of a 

 clveap, easy, and regular arrangement into beds ; and that 

 tiijO acres^ devoted to the culture of table vegetables, will 

 furnish an abundant supply, for even a large family." 



The ground is next to be divided into quarters, the 

 size of which ought to be pi-oportioned to the extent of the 

 garden; because, if these divisions be too small, the soil 

 will be wasted in walks ; and as the quarters are generally 

 enclosed by espaliers of fruit-trees, the vegetables which 

 may be planted there will not thrive, for want of sufficient 

 exposure. The walks should, therefore, be proportioned 

 to the size of the ground; and in a small garden, they ought 

 not to exceed eight feet; or, if it be a large one, from twelve 

 to fourteen feet in breadth. It will also be advisable to 

 place a border, three or four feet wide, between such wall 

 and the espalier, in which may be sowm small salads, or any 

 similar vegetables, that do not take deep root, or continue 



