FART V. CULINARY GARDENING. 307 



generally be altered at pleasure ; whereas situation, shelter, and 

 exposure, cannot. Shelter indeed may be improved in the course 

 of time, but frequently not during the life of the owner. Soil 

 however can, though with considerable expence, be altered in a 

 few months. The best general soil for a garden is a middling 

 loam ; which, in some parts, can be made of different degrees 

 of lightness, to suit different vegetables, by the addition of 

 sand; and in others, of different degrees of stiffness or cohesion, 

 by the addition of clays. The depth of garden soil in general, 

 where the bottom is dry, may be considerable, and not less 

 than three feet ; where the bottom is a moist clay, a less depth 

 will be requisite, especially if that clay be well drained ; but 

 if this cannot be accomplished, nor the expence of placing a 

 stratum of gravel above it incurred, then it should not be less 

 than four feet deep, in order to prevent the roots of herbaceous 

 vegetables from reaching it. For fruit trees such a soil would 

 be ruinous, without pavement at two and a half or three feet 

 under the surface. When the natural soil has to be removed, 

 and a new soil formed, regard should be had to the introduc- 

 tion of different kinds of earth ; and particular care taken to 

 form the fruit tree borders of proper depth and quality, and 

 with proper substrata. 



After these remarks on choosing the site of a garden, I add a 

 few on its general form and subdivisions, 



