306 CULINARY GARDENING. BOOK I. 



should be, if possible, near to the family offices and livery 

 stables, and not far from the farm ; at the same time it ought 

 to be concealed from general view, and, if possible, so con- 

 trived as not to interfere with picturesque improvement; which 

 they frequently do when unguardedly set down. With respect 

 to water, it should in every case be so near, and in such abun- 

 dance, as that no scarcity of it for the common purposes of 

 watering may take place in the summer months. Frequently, 

 water may be used after the manner of irrigation, either by 

 making it pass under the garden through a porous substratum, 

 or distributing it over its surface by means of troughs * and 

 pipes, as already mentioned j~. Both ways are practicable 

 when water can be commanded : and where the surface is 

 either a uniform slope or level, the expence would be very 

 trifling, and the advantages certainly considerable. I have seen 

 a great number of gardens where it might be put in practice 

 with very little trouble, and perhaps none would be more im- 

 proved by it than the garden now forming at Luss. 



The next requisite is proper soil ; which some will imagine 

 ought to have been placed before Situation. But the soil can 



* These should be removed in winter^ and in time of frost ; no water should touch 

 a garden in winter that can be kept off ; even rain, if it were possible to prevent it, 

 should not fall on it; water produces cold by its evaporation, and in the process 

 of congelation. 



f See Chapter I.— -Cultivation. 



