270 On Constructing Piers and Copings of Garden Walls. 



appearance, and the branches of the fruit trees are trained 

 with as much facility over the projection of the piers as they 

 are over a flat surface. 



The copings of my wall have a considerably greater pro- 

 jection than is usually given in this country. I was induced 

 to adopt this plan from several circumstances, which I will 

 mention : I have observed that the fruit on clay walls is 

 commonly superior both in quality and quantity; these 

 walls are always finished with a covering of thatch, for their 

 preservation, which projects at least nine inches, and to 

 this circumstance I attribute the abundance and excellence 

 of the produce of the trees trained against them, arising 

 from the ample shelter afforded to their blossoms during the 

 spring season. I have also noticed for many years that a 

 Moor Park Apricot tree, planted to the south-west, under the 

 projecting eaves of a low house adjoining my garden, never 

 failed to produce large crops, without any other protection, 

 whilst the blossoms of my own trees, in the same aspect, 

 were frequently cut off, although guarded by a double net- 

 ting, my wall having only a projection in the coping of a few 

 inches ; and I apprehend that the difference of success in 



