26 



GENERAL FORMATION, &a, OF GARDENS. 



departed from, the bad soil can be re- 

 moved, and a better substituted. Impor- 

 tant though soil be, let it always be a 

 minor consideration compared with situ- 

 ation, shelter, and aspect. 



The older gardeners, such as London 

 and Wise, Switzer, Hitt, Justice, Bradley, 

 Abercrombie, and others, too often sacri- 

 ficed situation for soil ; and perhaps some 

 modern artists have erred in the opposite 

 extreme, and depended too much on ma- 

 nure and other adventitious aids, in en- 

 deavouring to secure their object. 



The nomenclature of soils is in such an 

 imperfect state, that it is very difficult to 

 find terms by which to express what may 

 be called a good, bad, or indifferent gar- 

 den soil. MThail recommends " a sandy 

 loam, not less that 2 feet deep, and good 

 earth, neither of a binding nature in sum- 

 mer, nor retentive of rain in winter, but 

 of such a texture that it can be worked 

 without difficulty at any season of the 

 year. If it can be done,, a garden should 

 be made on land the bottom of which is 

 not of a spongy, wet nature. If this rule 

 can be observed, draining will be unneces- 

 sary ; for when land is well prepared for 

 the growth of fruit trees and esculent 

 vegetables, by trenching, manuring, and 

 digging, it is by these means brought into 

 such a porous temperament that the rains 

 pass through it without being detained 

 longer than necessary. If the land of a 

 garden be of too strong a nature, it should 

 be well mixed with sand, or scrapings of 

 roads, where stones," particularly flints, 

 "have been ground to pieces by carriages." 



Walter Nicol was of opinion that several 

 kinds of soil were necessary in the same 

 garden ; and the same view has been 

 advocated by Dr Neill. " It is a happy 

 circumstance," says the former, " that in 

 many instances we meet with different 

 soils in the same acre. In the same 

 garden they should never be wanting; 

 and where nature (or natural causes) has 

 been deficient, recourse must be had to 

 art — inasmuch as the variety of fruits and 

 vegetables to be cultivated require different 

 soils to produce them in perfection." It 

 would, however, be absurd to argue in 

 favour of a scheme to provide a different 

 soil for each description of vegetable. 



Forsyth recommends a deep soil " of a 

 mellow pliable nature, and of a mode- 

 rately dry quality; and if the ground 



should have an uneven surface, by no 

 means attempt to level it; for by that 

 unevenness, and any little difference there 

 may be in the quality, you will have a 

 greater variety of soil adapted to different 

 crops. The best soil for a garden is a rich 

 mellow loam ; and the worst, a stiff heavy 

 clay. A light sand is also a very unfit 

 soil for a garden." — Treatise on Fruit Trees. 



Loudon says, " A soil should be suffi- 

 ciently tenacious to adhere to the roots 

 of plants, though not so much so as to be 

 binding, which would certainly retard 

 their progress and extension in search of 

 food. Hence a loam of a middle texture, 

 or rather inclining to sand, may be consi- 

 dered as the most suitable soil for the pur- 

 pose here in view — and that on a double 

 account, viz., the greater part of the valu- 

 able kinds of kitchen vegetables delight in 

 such a soil, and it is worked at less expense 

 than a stiff one ; and in severe droughts 

 it is neither apt to crack or be parched, 

 nor in hard frosts to throw out tender 

 plants and seeds." — Encyc. ofGard. p. 724. 



Where soils are not found naturally 

 existing similar to those above, art must 

 be called in to modify or change them. 

 We have stated elsewhere that this is 

 both practicable and necessary ; and in- 

 deed, where the aspect and situation are 

 good, no expense should be spared in 

 forming good soil, even to the degree of 

 making it entirely artificial. This has 

 been done to a very great extent in the 

 gardens at Dalkeith, where the original 

 good soil was in many cases not more 

 than 3 inches deep ; the field, chosen 

 on account of its favourable situation, 

 having been used for years previously as 

 a gravel pit, and as the gravel had been 

 removed, the excavations were filled up 

 with all the rubbish collected in the 

 park. The first operation, after arrang- 

 ing the necessary levels, was to open a 

 trench along the centre from side to side, 

 30 feet in breadth, and to cast out the 

 heterogeneous material to the depth of 

 4 feet. The bottom of this trench 

 being properly levelled, we began to fill 

 it up with surface soil taken from various 

 parts of the grounds, such as that on 

 which our buildings were to be placed, 

 and the foundations of drives and walks, 

 which we formed simultaneously to a 

 great extent, loading out with gravel, and 

 loading in with soil. In addition to this, 



