WALLS, ESPALIER-RAILS, AND TRELLIS- WORK. 



185 



parts of the country in pleasure-grounds, to separate the lawn from the 

 park, by Mr. Porter, of Thames-street, London, and others, at a charge 

 of from 2^, to 6s. a yard, accordmg to circumstances. The chief difficulty 

 in erecting this fence is to strain the wires perfectly tight ; but this is effected 

 by screws and a peculiar apparatus which it is unnecessary here to describe. 

 Those who wish to study the details will find them in the Gard. Mag. 

 vol. xvi. p. 16. Fences or espalier rails of this description are most easil}^ 

 erected when in a straight line; but by means of under-ground braces, either 

 of iron, wood, or stone, they may be erected on any curve whatever. Where 

 effect is any consideration, the braces should in every case be concealed 

 under ground. When trellis-work is placed against walls, or against any 

 object which it is deshed to conceal, it may be wholly covered by the 

 plants trained on it ; but where it is placed in any position by which it will 

 be seen on both sides (such as when it forms the supports to a verandah, or 

 a summer-house, or a trellised arcade over a walk), the surface must not be 

 entirely covered by the plants ; because it is desirable that leaves and blos- 

 soms should be seen on both sides, and this can only be done effectively by 

 the partial admission of direct light through the interstices or meshes of the 

 trellis- work. A trellised walk closely covered with the most ornamental 

 roses will show no more beauty to a person walking within, than if it were 

 covered with the most ordinary plants ; but let partial openings be made 

 in the covering of roses, and their leaves and blossoms will be seen hanging 

 down over the head of the spectator, forming a perspective of flowers and 

 foliage, instead of one present mg only the branches and the footstalks, and 

 backs of the leaves. 



479. Trellises and lattice-work are constructed either of wood or iron, or of 

 both materials combiued ; and though lattice- work, by which we mean 

 trellis-work with the meshes or spaces between the intersections smaller 

 than is usual for the purposes of training, is chiefly required m ornamental 

 structures, yet it is occasionally used for supporting fruit-trees, and for culi- 

 nary plants, such as Cucumbers. In order to render trellis- work durable 

 and architectural, it ought never to rise directly out of the soil, but always 

 be supported either by the wall or frame against which it is placed, or when 

 it is independent, by bases of stone. This is almost always neglected both in 

 kitchen and ornamental gardens, in consequence of which the construction is 

 unsatisfactory to the artistical eye, and the posts, or other parts which rise 

 out of the soil, decay long before the superstructure. Where espalier-rails 

 of this, or of any other kind, are put up in flower-gardens for supporting 

 shrubs which come early into flower, such as the Pyrus japonica, Wistaria 

 sinensis, China roses, &c., they may be easily protected by a moveable 

 coping of boards, like an inverted gutter, which can be dropped on or taken 

 off ui a very few minutes. Trellis- work in kitchen-gardens is commonly 

 employed against walls, to which it is attached by iron bolts through the 

 wall, or by holdfasts driven into it ; and the laths are about an inch 

 square, and placed vertically, and let into horizontal bars of larger 

 dimensions, placed three or four feet apart, and fixed to the wall in the 

 manner just mentioned. The distance of the laths from the wall need 

 not be above half an inch, as that is sufficient to allow the ties to be passed 

 behind them and the wall. In order to economise space in small gardens, 

 Mr. Alexander Forsyth proposes to cover the walks with trellis- work for 

 the support of fruit-trees. "Every species of hardy fruit-bearing tree and 



