£8 



THE PRACTICAL GARDENER. 



ceraent, will last a long time, and render the walls perfectly 

 dry. Some persons consider it a matter of consequence to 

 place the coping in such a manner, that it may throw the rain 

 tliat falls upon its surface to the worst side of the wall, and 

 others construct it on such a principle, that the rain may fall 

 equally on both sides ; but to neither of these cases ought much 

 importance be attached, for the whole rain that falls on the 

 sui'face of a garden-wall is, considering the time which it is in 

 falling, so trifling, that it cannot injure one side much more 

 than the other ; for if both surfaces be planted with trees, they 

 v/ill, in the generality of seasons, absorb all the moisture that 

 falls, without any great inconvenience or injury to the fruit. 

 It is certainly an error to throw all the rain-water to the worst 

 side of the wall, as the injurious effects are thereby increased, 

 particularly in northern aspects, which are of themselves natu- 

 rally damp. In the generality of cases, an equal 

 division of the water may be considered as the 

 most rational. ^ Bricks of various forms have been 

 used for this purpose, and the greater the thickness 

 of them, the greater will be their weight, conse- 

 quently they will bind the wall better together, and 

 they will be less liable to be displaced. The edges 

 which project over the walls should be made thinner 

 than the other parts, or else they will have a heavy 

 appearance. The annexed figures represent the 

 different forms of bricks often used for this purpose, 

 and may be procured at any brick-kiln, and in 

 most cases, will be cheaper than stone. 



WATER. 



Water is so necessary an element in the formation of vege- 

 table bodies, that without it they could not exist. It is of the 

 utmost consequence in a garden, and no one should be without 

 a regular supply. The expense which the market-gardeners 

 in the vicinity of London incur, in providing this element alone, 

 is a sufficient proof of its indispensibility ; and the crops, which 

 are reared by the liberal use of it, are strongly corroborative of 

 the justness of the remark. In all well-regulated gardens. 



