LAYING-OUT OF HORTICULTURAL GARDENS. 247 



labor might be attained, valuable knowledge of local 

 peculiarities might be secured, and needless expense 

 might be avoided. At the same time, every one will 

 be ready to desire that the great garden at Turnham 

 Green, which is maintained by the affluent London 

 Society, should retain its general destination and full 

 complement of sectional departments, and that from 

 the influence which its wealth, science, and central 

 position fit it to exercise, it should continue to be the 

 connecting link of all such gardens in the Empire. 



In every case a considerable space of lawn should 

 be left open in some prominent part of the garden for 

 the temporary erection of tents, stages, and other ap- 

 pliances of those flower-show exhibitions which have 

 been found to contribute so much to the funds and to 

 the general prosperity of the societies. These shows, 

 indeed, have proved to be of so much importance that 

 some of the older horticultural gardens have been 

 more or less altered to admit of their extension. The 

 space thus devoted need not be of any formal shape, 

 but it should not be encumbered with too many par- 

 terres or figures of shrubs and trees. It should com-' 

 municate with the more ornamental parts of the garden 

 by means of walks and lawns, in order to extend and 

 diversify the promenades. 



Certain of the minor departments of these gardens, 

 such as the culinary vegetable section, the propagating 

 grounds, and the forcing frames and nursing pits, may 

 be appropriately kept within small inclosures formed 

 by means of low walls or hedges, arrangements that 

 are found to be highly convenient, as affording seclu- 

 sion for experiment and shelter for delicate plants. 

 These enclosures require to be masked externally. 



