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MISCELLANEOUS GARDEN STRUCTURES. 



gians and Dutch attend to this matter, 

 (who, by the way, are better managers 

 of manure than we are,) that in many 

 cases they have a tank to contain each 

 day's supply ; and, beginning on Monday, 

 for example, they use that collected the 

 Monday previous, and so on in regular 

 rotation throughout the year. 



One way in which great loss of manure 

 ensues in most gardens, is by an almost 

 total disregard of nightsoil, and, we may 

 add, a want of common decency in having 

 so few water-closets. In the gardens at 

 Dalkeith they are placed over water- 

 tight tanks, supplied with water from 

 the roofs, from which the contents are 

 pumped up and applied either imme- 

 diately to the ground, or upon dung- 

 hills formed of leaves and the refuse of 

 the garden. 



Tanks for holding rain or river water 

 are often made by excavating the ground 

 to somewhat more than the capacity 

 required. If the soil is naturally suffi- 

 ciently retentive to hold water, the whole 

 is a simple affair — as, after the excavation 

 is made, and the surface rendered smooth, 

 it may be covered with bricks set in 

 cement, or lime mortar such as the 

 Dorking, or any lime mixed with oxide 

 of iron, and which stands under water; 

 or it may be covered with rubble stone, 

 pavement, or slate. In lining such tanks — 

 if they are, for example, of the circular 

 or basin form — the regularity of the work 

 will be secured by placing a large stone 

 or pier of brickwork in the centre of the 

 bottom, and a beam of timber from side 

 to side of the surface, exactly in the line 

 of the true diameter of the circle. A 

 quadrant-shaped gauge of boarding is to 

 be formed, the ends of the perpendicular 

 side of which are to be furnished with a 

 pivot each, to play in a hole sunk in the 

 centre of the block in the bottom, and a 

 corresponding one in the beam at top : 

 the circular part of the gauge is to be so 

 formed, that, in turning it round, it will 

 describe exactly the circle required for 

 the bottom and sides of the tank. The 

 operation of building or paving is to 

 commence at the centre of the bottom, 

 and to be continued in concentric circles 

 till the whole is finished — the operators, 

 as they proceed, drawing the gauge after 

 them, and making their work correspond 

 to it. 



If the soil is gravelly or porous, of 

 course the excavation must be made 

 larger in proportion, to allow for the 

 pavement or building, as well as 2 feet of 

 thoroughly prepared puddle behind it, 

 which should be put in and consolidated 

 as the work goes on. 



With such a foundation as this, if of 

 9 or 14 inch brickwork, or 18 or 20 inch 

 rubble, well grouted, the walls may be 

 carried above the ground-level several 

 feet, and finished with a coping of pave- 

 ment or ashlar. 



Brick will be, in most cases, found 

 the cheapest material; stones dressed and 

 laid in courses, or even ashlar-work, per- 

 haps the most durable, but at the same 

 time the most expensive. 



Very useful tanks are made, where 

 appearance is not a primary object, 

 by forming them of well-tempered clay, 

 as above, and covering that over with a 

 foot of clean river gravel. 



Upon a well-prepared foundation of 

 well-tempered clay puddle, excellent tanks 

 may be formed by paving them all over 

 with cheap undressed pavement, the sides 

 and ends only being straightened and 

 squared so as to fit pretty closely toge- 

 ther. The sides of such pavement may 

 be brought close together in the usual 

 manner, or they may overlap each other 

 if this is deemed better. No regard 

 need be paid to making the joints water- 

 tight, as the puddle under them will 

 effect this — the use of the pavement being 

 to preserve the puddle, and to keep the 

 water more pure. 



Cisterns for garden purposes were long 

 made of lead, sometimes enclosed in 

 wooden cases, and often not. In the 

 latter case, they are, if large, liable to 

 become deformed, in consequence of the 

 pressure of the water in them, and oftener 

 from their expanding, particularly when 

 placed within a hothouse, and not con- 

 tracting equally again when cooled. 

 Lead is in all cases expensive ; and when 

 the water to be kept in these cisterns 

 contains calcareous matter, the metal 

 soon decays, and the cistern becomes 

 leaky. Milled lead of 6 or 7 lb. per 

 superficial foot is quite heavy enough for 

 lining wooden cisterns for garden pur- 

 poses. 



All cisterns should be supplied with a 

 waste-pipe, to prevent the water from 



