10 
LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 
used, as a moderate steady temperature is requisite. The bed is very 
firmly beaten together when made; and when the lower part is about 
milk-warm, nodules of spawn are inserted just within the surface of 
the bed, pressing the dung closely over them. In a week afterwards 
the lower part may be earthed; and when the heat of the top is suf¬ 
ficiently abated, that also is spawned; and soon after the whole is 
covered with about an inch and a half of good fresh loam from a pas¬ 
ture, and of such a temperament as to moisture, that it may be patted 
compactly together without kneading. A mushroom-bed so made 
requires attention to maintain a regular heat, which is done by the 
quantity of covering employed. If rather above new-milk heat, a very 
thin covering will suffice; but if lower, a thicker coat of both dry straw 
and mats may be required. Success depends entirely on the right state 
of the dung, the critical moment of putting in the spawn, and the 
subsequent equable degree of warmth kept up by means of thick or 
thin coverings. 
I am afraid I have detained you too long in the melon-ground with 
dry practical matters : but let us proceed into the garden. Before 
entering it, allow me to say something of the south wall and border. 
The wall is about eleven feet high, which is quite high enough for 
properly-trained trees, and for the size of the garden. Trees of a 
dwarfish, or rather of a dwarfed habit, are invariably more fruitful on 
walls than very vigorous growers; and if the whole height be not 
covered, it is only so much good costly brick-work thrown away. 
Some sorts of fruit-trees, indeed, such as pears, vines, or cherries, will 
in time clothe a much higher wall; but the extra quantity of fruit 
gained from large trees never makes up for the trouble of training, and 
pruning, and gathering the crop. High walls are considered service¬ 
able as yielding shelter and warmth to the interior of a garden. This 
is partly true, but only to trees on the leeward side ; and for culinary 
vegetables highly walled-in, they actually suffer for want of venti¬ 
lation. 
The south wall just mentioned is covered with the different varieties 
of the apricot from end to end, great quantities of this fruit, in one 
shape or other, being required for the use of the family. The trees are 
chiefly what are called half-standards: that is, the proper stocks are 
budded at the height of five feet from the ground, and the trees for 
ever after present a clear stem of that height before branches diverge. 
The latter are trained in all directions from the point of divergence— 
downwards, horizontally, obliquely, and erect. The first and second 
positions, I am told, are the most fruitful, and the last the least. This 
difference is easily accounted for;—the current of the sap is most 
