10 



INTRODUCTION. 



niency and neatness in enabling the workmen to clean and 

 gather the crop, without trampling the ground, seem to 

 compensate the sacrifice of space. For currant, gooseberry, 

 and raspberry bushes, the compartments are, of course, re- 

 served undivided ; and narrow beds are unnecessary in the 

 case of large perennial plants, such as artichokes or rhu- 

 barb. 



Abercrombie recommends the borders next the walls to 

 be made of prepared soil, " from eight to twelve feet wide, 

 and the same description of soil extended under the walks, 

 in order to allow a liberal width for the roots to spread 

 without impediment. Next to the borders, leave a space 

 for a walk entirely round the garden, from four to six feet 

 wide. Some persons, also, choose to have a border on thei 

 inward side of the walk, for the cultivation of espaliers, and 

 esculents of a dwarf growth ; others divide the central 

 parts at once into main compartments or divisions. The 

 walks or alleys must be regulated by convenience of access. 

 Where the ground is extensive, the centre should be trav- 

 ersed by a walk, with parallel borders, from which cross- 

 walks may branch, if necessary." The borders under the 

 walls, Forsyth observes, " should, in the inside, be from 

 ten to twenty feet wide, according to the size of the garden, 

 to give full liberty for 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, 

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

 two feet and a half wide, (to admit a barrow or barrow en- 

 gine for watering the trees,) and covered with sand, or, 

 which is better, coal-ashes, about two or three inches thick, 

 but without any gravel or rubbish below." "The borders 

 for wail trees," according to Nicol, " should not be less 

 than twelve feet in breadth ; but fifteen or eighteen feet is 

 not too much : that is to say, the soil should be prepared 

 for these breadths, if it be not naturally good, und perfectly 

 answerable for the different kinds of trees to be planted." 

 — See further Encyc. of Gard. p. 474. 



The above directions are mostly copied and abridged from 

 European writers on horticulture, of established reputation. 

 They may, perhaps, prove of use to American gardeners, 

 though they may not apply, in their full extent, to the soil, ob- 

 jects of culture, &c. of any individual cultivator. Useful hints 

 may be gathered from precepts, which, taken in the aggre^ 



