THE PRACTICAL GARDENER. 



The trellis against reed walls should consist of horizontal 

 wires, rods, or laths, when vines, currants, or trees, are to be 

 trained vertically; and of vertical wires or rods when trees are 

 to be trained in the fan or in the horizontal manner. 



The common brick walls of the garden at Hylands are, for 

 the most part, trellised, Mr. Nieman considering the trees less 

 liable to injury from extreme heat, and the fi-uit likely to be 

 better flavored, when the branches are kept a few inches from 

 the wall, and the fruit in consequence surrounded by a fi-ee 

 circulation of air. 



The thickness of walls must depend principally upon their 

 height and situation, whetlier sufficiently sheltered or not 

 Few walls exceeding eight or ten feet in height can be suffi- 

 ciently strong, if less than fourteen inches in thickness, if made 

 of brick ; but, if made of stone, they must be rather thicker. 

 It is better to build them of a sufficient thickness, in order to 

 render them secure, than to erect them of a smaller dimension 

 and have recourse to piers to support them ; for, notwithstand- 

 ing the benefit of such supports, they have an unseemly effect, 

 and are very inconvenient for the operation of training. In 

 those cases, where these supports are necessary, it is better to 

 construct them so as to project from the north side of principal 

 walls, on account of their being less exposed to the sight. 

 No objection can exist to such projections, when the doors are 

 cut through the walls, for a greater thickness of wall at such 

 places will give strength to them, and if performed with judge- 

 ment, the effect rather than being prejudicial may be orna- 

 mental. It is of material consequence, that the foundations 

 be good, and that they should be constructed of gi'eater thick- 

 ness to within a few inches of the ground level, so as to afford 

 a sufficient base for the wall to stand upon ; as, from the nature 

 of the ground, and the subsequent operations to be performed 

 on them, they may naturally settle or be disturbed, and in such 

 cases, the consequences might be attended with serious incon- 

 venience. 



The materials of which walls are composed are as various as 

 the heights to which they should be carried. Bricks are gene- 

 rally allowed to be the best, forming by far the neatest wall, 

 «nd from their nature are much warmer than stone, woorl, or 



