THE PRACTICAL GARDENER. 



Such a figure is more conveniently divided into quarters, 

 and those quarters will always present a neat and compact 

 appearance. A fofm of this shape will produce the greatest 

 extent of south wall, which is a matter of no trivial import- 

 ance, for, without the aid of those southern walls, few of the 

 finer fruits will arrive at perfection, even in our most favor- 

 able situations. The outer fence or boundary need not be 

 exactly parallel to the walls, as circumstances may so combine 

 as to render that disposition unnecessary. The slips or sur- 

 rounding piece of ground may be cropped with coarse vege- 

 tables, and probably planted with fruit-trees and bushes, or, in 

 many cases, be entirely occupied as an orchard; the form, 

 therefore, of the outer boundary need not be confined to any 

 particular figure. A square, like an entirely level surface, 

 will always have a stiff and heavy appearance ; but this object- 

 ion may, in a great degi'ee, be remedied, by running a wall 

 across from east to west, and thus dividing the space into two 

 equal, or unequal pieces. This plan is often adopted, to in- 

 crease the extent of walls for the production of our finer fruits. 



The arrangement of such a figure is simply to can-y walks 

 parallel to the walls round the interior of the garden, leaving 

 borders for the cultivation of fruit-trees of sufficient breadth, 

 and bearing a just proportion to the height of the walls. The 

 breadth of these borders is generally allowed to be equal to 

 the height of the walls, for, if narrower, they do not admit of 

 sufficient scope for the roots of the trees to run in, and it 

 gives the walls the appearance of being higher than what they 

 really are. If much broader, they diminish the effect of the 

 walls ; and where they are not cropped with vegetables, from 

 an idea that they injure the fruit-trees, a great loss of ground 

 must be the inevitable consequence. A walk should divide 

 the whole garden into two equal pieces from north to south, 

 unless the extent exceed an acre, in which case, two or more 

 walks will be necessary, as also one from east to west, inter- 

 secting each other in the centre of the space, and thus dividing 

 the w^hole into four equal quarters, the sides of each quarter 

 being exactly parallel to the walls. If the extent be more 

 than one acre, it will be advisable to divide it into six com- 

 partments, for the greater facility of cropping the whoie. In 



