106 



GARDEN WALLS. 



deciduous plants, the effect, more parti- 

 cularly in winter, would be very striking. 

 An excellent plan for varying such a wall 

 is, to form the ground-plan in a zigzag 

 line, with piers at the angles — in which 

 case the length of each angle may be 10 

 feet, and the deviation from a straight 

 line from 2 to 3 feet. In going along the 

 walk in front of such a wall, one series of 

 angles would meet the eye, and in return- 

 ing, another series. A temporary ver- 

 anda, in which the framework is to be 

 covered with hurdles clothed with thatch, 

 or with canvass fixed to framework, or 

 oiled paper, forms a very good protection 

 for plants while in their dormant state, 

 but requires to be removed much sooner 

 in spring, when they begin to grow, than a 

 glass roof; because, when the plants begin 

 to grow under an opaque roof, they be- 

 come etiolated and blanched for want of 

 light. In general, conservative walls 

 should be flued, in order to give the 

 power of assisting the ripening of the 

 wood in autumn." This, in a cultural 

 point of view, is of much importance, as 

 the better the wood is ripened, the better 

 it will withstand the cold in winter. Con- 

 servative walls might often be formed by 

 constructing piers or buttresses against 

 the dead walls of offices, whose backs look 

 into the pleasure-ground ; and instead of 

 their being an eyesore, they might be thus 

 transformed into very interesting objects. 



Permanent studs for garden walls. — Gar- 

 den walls, of whatever material they may 

 be constructed, are expensive erections ; 

 and if properly built and taken care of, 

 they will last for ages. To insure dura- 

 bility, all walls, when first built, ought to 

 be furnished with either cast-iron eyed or 

 headed nails, pushed in to the joints, be- 

 fore the mortar or cement is set : 9 inches 

 apart each way may be taken as the mi- 

 nimum, and 15 inches the maximum 

 distance apart. To these the trees should 

 be secured by soft twine previously steeped 

 in pyroligneous ether. This will not 

 only be found an immense saving of ma- 

 terial ever after, but will secure the wall 

 against those annual defacements which 

 arise from driving in and pulling out 

 thousands of nails, both in the joints and 

 in the bricks. We have long given up 

 the use of nails and shreds, and cannot 

 too strongly recommend all who wish for 

 the preservation of their walls to follow 



our example. Previous to using these 

 studs, they should be made red hot, and 

 thrown into a vessel of boiled oil with a 

 little red lead, to give them a brick colour, 

 as well as to prevent corrosion and insure 

 durability. When once in, they never 

 require to be removed; and hence the 

 joints and bricks are secured from injury. 

 Should at any time a stud be in the way 

 of a large branch, it is easily broken off 

 by the surface of the wall. Since we in- 

 troduced the use of the eyed nails, some 

 fourteen years ago, we believe Mr Croskill 

 of the Beverley Foundries has manufac- 

 tured several millions of them. 



In old gardens the walls, in course of 

 time, by the use of the nail and shred 

 system, became so defaced as sometimes 

 to require to be entirely taken down and 

 rebuilt, or otherwise repaired — a danger 

 which the use of the permanent studs 

 completely obviates. 



" The walls at Trentham had become 

 so battered and disfigured that it was 

 necessary to repoint them, and to plaster 

 up the holes in the bricks, in order to 

 bring the whole to an even surface. To 

 conceal this patchwork, the walls received 

 a coat of stone colour, and by this means 

 all insects were effectually smothered. 

 This is repeated once in two or three 

 years, taking care not to let the material 

 fall on the branches. The proportions of 

 the ingredients used in forming the colour 

 are as follows : — 16 lb. umber, 4 lb. 

 ochre, 1 lb. lamp-black, and 4 quarts of 

 coal-tar ; these are boiled together in 30 

 gallons of water, and applied to the walls 

 as hot as possible." — Fleming in Journal 

 of Horticultural Society. 



We use for the same purpose best 

 Roman cement made into a thin paste, 

 with sour milk and sweet wort, — that is, 

 an infusion of malt, — and lay it on with 

 a common whitewash-brush quite cold, 

 giving it three coats, the one following 

 the other as the wall dries. 



The following explanation of the tech- 

 nical terms used by bricklayers, in con- 

 nection with such work as garden walls, 

 will be useful to the general reader. 



Those bricks which lie in the same 

 direction as the line of the wall are called 

 stretchers ; those crossing the wall are 

 headers; and, when smaller pieces are used, 

 they are called closers. The object of 

 arranging bricks as stretchers and headers 



