76 



GARDEN WALLS. 



10 to 12 feet, says " that height being 

 very convenient for the operations of 

 pruning, watering, gathering the fruit, 

 &c. } and admitting of a sufficient expan- 

 sion of the branches of most trees. But the 

 height of garden walls should be regu- 

 lated by the extent, or by the apparent 

 extent, of the ground enclosed by them. 

 The apparent extent is mentioned as 

 well as the real extent, because it often 

 depends on the form and cast of the 

 ground in how much the eye shall be 

 pleased. If it be a square, it will seem 

 less than it really is, and, if a lengthened 

 parallelogram, larger ; and, according to 

 its flatness or its elevation, the eye will 

 be deceived. 



" A small spot surrounded by high 

 walls has a bad effect and a gloomy 

 appearance. The walls being of different 

 heights gives relief. In a garden of an 

 acre, being a parallelogram of the best 

 proportion, and gently elevated, the 

 north wall may be raised to the height 

 of 14 feet ; the east and west walls to 

 12, and the south wall to 10 feet above 

 the ground-level. If the ground slope 

 considerably, the breakings in the respec- 

 tive heights of the walls will be less — 

 they may be only a foot ; and the relief 

 will be the same, or nearly the same, 

 to the eye, in ranging along their surfaces. 

 In a garden of greater extent, the walls 

 may be raised to a greater height ; but 

 by no means in proportion, if it extend 

 to several acres. The extreme height 

 of the north wall of any garden should 

 never exceed 18 feet; and containing, 

 suppose 4 acres, the east and west walls 

 should be 15, and the south wall only 

 12 feet high, in order that it may give 

 the necessary relief to the eye. In a 

 garden 400 feet long, and 300 feet broad, 

 which forms a handsome parallelogram, 

 and contains something above two English 

 acres, if the ground lie on an easy slope, 

 a very eligible height for the north wall 

 is 16 feet ; for the east and west walls, 14 ; 

 and for the south wall, 12. But if the 

 ground be quite level, or nearly so, the 

 north wall being the same height, the 

 east and west walls should be only 

 13| feet, and the south wall 11 feet in 

 height ; or the east and west walls may 

 only be 13, and the south wall 10 feet 

 high, if it be a dead level." 



Hothouses being in general built against 



the north wall, it follows that its height 

 should be regulated by them ; but in 

 gardens where there are no hothouses, 

 we see no reason why a greater height 

 than 12 feet should be indulged in. 



Rogers, in his excellent work on Fruit 

 Trees, p. 136, says: — "Low walls are 

 much more convenient in the manage- 

 ment of the trees than those requiring 

 ladders to perform the necessary opera- 

 tions; and all fruit trees extending 

 horizontally are for the most part more 

 fertile, and certainly easier defended, 

 and under more control, than if trained 

 upright, and high out of reach ; so that 

 two walls 6 feet in height, with trees 

 planted at good distances from each 

 other, will yield, during any term of 

 years, much more fruit than one wall 

 12 feet in height. Besides, high walls 

 are by no means necessary for the crops 

 of either a fruit or kitchen garden. A 

 free ventilation is necessary at all times. 

 The effects of high winds are much less 

 to be dreaded than those of foul stag- 

 nated air, pent up all round with lofty 

 walls." 



§ 7. — ARRANGING WALLS TO SUIT 

 VARIOUS SITUATIONS. 



Where the ground is level, or falling 

 gradually to the south, little more is 

 required than to erect the walls so that 

 their coping may run parallel to the 

 ground surface, and in such cases the 

 proportions given in the last article 

 will suffice ; for it is of great conse- 

 quence to the good effect of the garden, 

 when finished, that the walls be arranged 

 to suit the cast of the ground. On this 

 subject Nicol makes the following judi- 

 cious remarks: "In designing and laying 

 out a modern garden, a degree of taste, 

 as well as of fitness or propriety, ought 

 to be displayed — the basis of which is 

 the right placing, proportioning, and 

 constructing of the walls. If these be 

 j>roperly set down, so as to answer the 

 cast of the ground, and be raised to 

 proper heights, according to its extent, 

 the rest is easy, and follows as a matter 

 of course. 



" In this particular branch of garden- 

 ing, utility and simplicity ought to go 

 hand in hand, otherwise true taste will 



