THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
147 
I December 5.J 
i gardening stands so high, has repeatedly pointed to the 
I great benefit derivable from artificial slopes, having 
i doubtless proved them for years, as we have done. In 
! deed, for the last six years, we have had a plot of con¬ 
siderable extent worked entirely on this system, in beds 
or parallel lines running east and west; and here we 
j produce most excellent vegetables, at least as early as 
| in the glorious peach border days. 
As to trellises for the margins of the wall 
I borders, we would not confine our readers to 
! one shape alone. The table trellis, whether per- 
i fectly horizontal or with a slight incline to the 
walk, is a most excellent form for some kinds ; 
whilst for others the saddle trellis might be 
j adopted,—or even perpendicular trellises, such 
| as suggested for the gooseberry or the currant, 
might be put in requisition. Whatever be the 
form, none should exceed five feet in height; indeed, 
more would be unnecessary under a dwarfing system. 
Resides, it is of importance that the eye of the spectator 
or operator should see to the very bottom of the wall be¬ 
hind; and five feet is quite high enough for a lady 
gardener. 
These tilings premised we will proceed to show how 
aspects should be appropriated through the whole gar- 
! den; first observing, that we would not plant another 
fruit tree within walks, but in the manner here explained; 
the interior of all the quarters, therefore, will be kept 
' in the most exclusive manner for vegetable culture. 
Families differ so much in size, in habits, and in extent 
of garden ground, that it is, we confess, difficult to find 
a starting point; but as our friend Beaton sarcastically 
observes, that one portion of the world believes that The 
Cottage Gahdeneii’s writers “know every thing,” we 
must take courage and proceed. 
Let us, to commence, put the case of a respectable 
family, with many visiting connections, and with a well 
filled nursery (the up-stairs one we mean), holding a 
kitchen and fruit-garden all in one, without orchard, of 
from one to two acres. In order, also, to bring in a col¬ 
lection of fruit adapted to the whole year, we will sup¬ 
pose that the family are at home all or most of the year. 
It must here be observed, that whatever selection of 
fruits may be given, or however good they may be in 
either quality, or cropping propensities, no person can 
hope to succeed equally with the whole in all situations. 
There is something peculiar in every soil aud every situ¬ 
ation, which, rendering it peculiarly favourable for the 
production of some fruits, in like manner would seem to 
unfit it for the successful production of some other kind; 
for how seldom do we hear of a garden being equally 
eminent for the production of all our hardy fruits. 
As we must, of necessity, occupy another paper, or it 
may be two, with the lists alluded to, as well as with 
their adaptations, seasons, &c., we may as well finish 
this by some general remarks which will tend to prepare 
the minds of our readers for what is to follow. In the 
first place, we may be permitted to revert for a moment 
to the subject of special root culture. Those who have 
been accustomed all their days to stick in a fruit tree 
here and there, will doubtless feel rather alarmed at 
such ceremonious procedures. They may rest assured, 
however, aud we speak from long experience, that once 
established, trees are much easier managed by this mode 
than by any we are acquainted with. We will engage 
that, if this advice be followed for three years, the trees 
shall almost prune themselves afterwards. We have 
now a row of pear-trees on the table trellis system, and 
which have been established for at least eighteen years. 
The stems of many of them are nearly two feet in cir¬ 
cumference, although only fifteen inches high, and these 
have borne abundantly for many years. The row is 240 
feet in length, and we will engage that a common 
labourer shall prune them in a dozen hours. 
It will be remembered, that we advised in the event of 
wide borders, a trellis on the front portion. The follow¬ 
ing diagram will tolerably well represent the occupation 
of the border by the roots when the trees are esta¬ 
blished :— 
Horizontal section of a portion of the wall border, showing 
its entire occupation by the roots of the fruit trees. 
WALL. 
WALK MARGIN. 
N.B.—The dots denote the position of trees. 
Thus it will be seen, as above, that the whole border 
will ultimately be a mass of fibres, freely ascending to 
the surface, and wholly unmolested by the spade. This 
is just as wo wish it to be; and provided the border, or 
rather the stations, are rightly prepared, that is to say 
with soil of a proper texture, we will engage that with a 
slight annual top-dressing, in the end of April, the trees 
shall continue in prosperity with the least possible 
amount of labour for at least twenty years—it pears, for 
double that time. We are here, however, averaging the 
whole—pears, plums, cherries, apples, &c. 
A garden thus established must, at all times, be a 
source of the highest gratification to its owner; every¬ 
thing would appear systematic in the very highest 
degree—everything carries a direct and special meaning 
on the face of it. Here would be no mangling of the 
delicate fibres of the fruit-trees, in order to carry out the 
culture of a few peas or lettuces. All will be like a well 
executed map; and where the garden line was stretched 
this year, in order to carry out cultural operations, there 
it may be stretched for a similar purpose ten years 
lienee. Robert Errington. 
THE ELOWER-GARDEN. 
Icebergs. —As we gardeners have the credit of giving 
fanciful names to all things belonging to our crait and 
calling, and then take on ourselves the trouble ot ex¬ 
plaining our terms by means of new dictionaries and 
glossaries, there can be no valid reason why a heap ot 
ice stored up by our industry, in lieu of the old pent-up 
icehouses of the last century, should not be called in 
our books an Icebery. If it be objected to on the ground 
that in Germany they say a bery when they mean a hill, 
we may advance a precedent from the conventional 
language of arctic and antarctic navigators, who, when 
they see or meet with mountains of boating ice, reduce 
them to the size of common hills by calling them by the 
name I have adopted. Icehouses, like the Linuuian 
system of botany, are already falling into disuse, and are 
reckoned as things of the eighteenth century rather than 
of our steam-going days; but they answered their re¬ 
spective ends very well, and paved the way lor a more 
economical order of things. Mona/idrias and inono- 
yynias, it is true, are still very well suited for the 
nursery aud for short country walks; and so are ice¬ 
houses, when they are allowed to stand as parts ot our 
cellars. But where can a publisher be now found who 
would risk his capital on a book of twenty-four classes 
of plants, or an architect who would chill his fingers in 
planning an icehouse? Nowhere. Icehouses have had 
their day, and Icebergs, which are within the means ot 
all who can afford to cool their wines and creams, have 
now usurped their place Pool old Gobbef smashed i 
