CHAPTER I. 



THE FORMATION AND ARRANGEMENT OF CULINARY AND 

 FRUIT GARDENS IN GENERAL. 



In laying out a new garden, there are 

 various important points to be kept in 

 view, of which the following are the 

 principal, — Plan, Extent, Form, Supply of 

 Water, Situation, Soil, Fruit-tree Borders, 

 Entrance, Shelter, Style. These will be 

 considered in the order in which they 

 stand. 



§ 1. — PLAN. 



Before commencing operations, a well- 

 studied plan should be prepared, adapted 

 to the situation, circumstances, and re- 

 quirements, and upon a scale sufficiently 

 large for the most minute details to be 

 clearly laid down on it ; without which all 

 must go on at random, and errors be in- 

 duced, for the rectifying of which unneces- 

 sary labour and expense will be incurred. 

 Besides a general ground-plan, others 

 will be necessary, particularly where the 

 erections are to be upon a large scale, 

 and of various constructions : these are 

 denominated working drawings, and must 

 be very correctly executed, as it is from 

 them, and the specifications detailing the 

 quality of the work, that the tradesmen 

 make up their estimates, and afterwards 

 take their measurements for their respec- 

 tive departments. On the ground-plan 

 should be laid down the exact lines and 

 directions of all drains, and water and 

 gas-pipes, so that these may be readily 

 got at in case of their requiring to be 

 added to or repaired. The depths of soil 

 should also be indicated. 



If we examine the majority of gardens 

 in Britain as they at present exist, it will 

 appear pretty obvious, without special in- 

 quiry into the causes of such disarrange- 

 ment, that no definite plan was made out in 



the first instance, and that all after addi- 

 tions have been thrown in, as it were, at 

 random. Hence the confusion and want of 

 unity so conspicuously displayed in many 

 gardens of high standing. This ought not 

 to be the case. A well-arranged plan is 

 as necessary in commencing a garden as 

 in beginning to build a mansion, if unity 

 and system are things worth caring for. 

 The whole of the projected arrangements 

 of a garden should be laid down on paper, 

 and submitted to competent examination. 

 The execution of the different parts may 

 be carried into effect at once, or progres- 

 sively, according to the wants and wishes 

 of the owner. Thus the walls may be 

 built, artificial shelter planted, if required, 

 the ground drained, levelled, and trenched, 

 so that the fruit-trees may be early plant- 

 ed, as it requires some years to bring 

 the majority of them to a fruit-bearing 

 state. 



The building of hothouses, pits, &c, 

 may follow — erecting those first which 

 may be more immediately wanted, and 

 leaving others to a more convenient sea- 

 son. By having all the arrangements 

 laid down in detail in the plan, these 

 suggestions can be the more readily acted 

 upon, and without causing confusion or 

 after alterations. It will, however, be 

 found by far the most economical and 

 satisfactory way to carry on the whole at 

 once. 



§ 2. — EXTENT. 



The size or extent of a garden must 

 always be regulated according to the sup- 

 ply expected to be required from it, and 

 also by whether it is to be strictly a 

 kitchen and fruit garden, or this com- 



