Makch 31. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENEE 
407 
I 
I 
PLANTING AN ORCHARD OR FRUIT-GARDEN. 
A VERY general desire appears to exist amongst the 
classes for whom The Cottage Gardener endeavonrs 
to furnish advice for more practical information con¬ 
cerning the fruit-garden, or orchard; and I feel called 
upon to enter on the subject. The information desired 
seems to he quite of a rudimentary character—tracing 
the fruit and vegetable garden from its commencement, 
through its rise, to its complete establishment. It will, 
therefore, he necessary to follow the subject out as 
much as possible in a connected way, to show the order, 
dependency, and connection of the various links in 
this gardening chain. To endeavour to furnish articles 
weekly, as much as possible applicable to tbe cinrent 
operations necessary, has been hitherto, in the main, 
the aim of the writers employed on this work; and to 
make those articles, as Mr. Deaton has judiciously ob¬ 
served, a sort of “ Companion to the Calendar.” This, 
I say, has been much practised, and has, doubtless, 
been productive of some benefit. Such a course, how¬ 
ever, has its faults as well as merits—at least, as far as 
concerns one portion of our readers: it prevents that 
connection in the subjects handled which those who are 
seeking the mere alphabet of gardening so much desire. 
I infer, therefore, that it will be useful to many of our 
readers occasionally to vary our course. I 
In order to make such advice equal to the case of an I 
uninformed beginner about to make a new garden out j 
of bithorto unenclosed lands—at least, as far as garden ; 
walling is concerned—we will suppose a case which | 
requires everything doing to it—drainage, enclosure, 
walks to make, borders to regulate, stations for trees to 
prepare, trees to select and plant, with pruning and 
subsequent treatment, &c.; and, in addition, compart¬ 
ments for vegetable culture to be established. 
Drainage. —This is the first point in all new en¬ 
closures for gardening purposes; a stagnant soil can 
never prove satisfactory, be it ever so good. Before the 
walls are built this matter must be attended to, for, if 
the process be necessary, a main drain or two may have j 
to pass through some portion of the walling, and this 
should be ascertained. Deep holes should be dug in , 
three or four places—say six feet—in order to ascertain ^ 
to what height the water rises. If the ground is partial ! 
in character—that is to say, some portions inclining to 
one class of soil, some to another—the character of each 
class should be ascertained in this respect. Such ex¬ 
amination should take place after a wet period, if pos¬ 
sible, in order that the improver may know the worst. 
If drainage he requisite, and the ground is of very 
limited extent, a line of main drain should be so con¬ 
trived as to receive with facility, and at the least expense, 
whatever subordinate or branch drains may be neces¬ 
sary. Some judgment must be exercised in all these 
things, in order to secure both economy and efficiency. 
It is possible that a main drain of this character may 
be made available for other purposes outside the walls, 
or structures may be required within, for which it will 
be necessary to provide deep drainage. To carry all j 
such objects in a business - like way the proprietor 
must have fully made up his mind as to his require- j 
ments. Hesitation proves fatal to many a plan. Be | 
these things as they may, a good main drain of some ; 
depth—not less than four feet—should be established, j 
and, of course, a good outlet must be secured to it, and 
its direction marked well by signals, to provide for 
future contingencies. Those who are about such things 
should remember, that unless their “rnain” be deep, 
the branch drains cannot be; and let it be borne in 
mind, that numerous complaints, well established, have 
been made of the fibres of roots, such as of Beet, or 
Mangold, and others, descending into and choking 
shallow drains during our summer droughts. Most of 
our ordinary vegetables descend much deeper than 
people imagine. I have traced Onion fibres forty-two 
inches, Asimragus forty-eight, and so on; but then 
there are the fruit-trees, which, if they escape their 
bounds, may go much deeper, and produce what have 
been tei'med “ foxtail roots,” which our readers may 
have noticed. These soon decide the fate of a drain; 
a better stop could scarcely be invented. No sooner 
is such a “brush” of fibres, which the title so aptly 
describes, produced, than sediment of some kind speedily 
collects. 
I would hero suggest that no drain should approach 
a tree or trees nearer than twelve feet, and that, if pos¬ 
sible, none be less than five feet in depth. 
Wards. —We must here suppose the plot well drained, 
and ready for building the walls. Opinions differ among 
practical men as to the form of a plot intended as a 
fruit and vegetable garden ; for my part, I shoidd prefer 
a parallelogram, following the cardinal points; the east 
and west sides one-third longer than the south and 
north. This plan I should adopt as far as possible, 
nearly up to the Scottish border, when it would become 
a consideration whether the south and north sides might 
not be equal to the others, or, in other words, an exact 
square ; and, further north still, it might become neces¬ 
sary to give the south and north lines the advantage. 
The question appears to me to assume this shape, in 
consequence of the great accession of valuable Pears in 
later years, many of which requii’e a wall, and for most 
of them an east and west aspect will be sufficient. It 
is evident, that as we increase the proportion of south 
and north sides, so, in like manner, is there a cor¬ 
responding increase of bad aspect, viz., the northern, 
which, however good it may be for some things, it is 
not desirable to increase. 
As to the height of walls, that is a matter much de¬ 
pendent on the means and aims of the proprietor. The 
best height for ordinary cases, is, I think, twelve feet; 
and if the owner choose to add another foot or two for 
shelter in a cold district, so much the better. They are 
not so convenient, however, below ten feet, which I 
suggest as the minimum height for boundary walls. 
Sometimes it becomes desirable to build cross interior 
walls; such may, if necessary, be made lower. There 
has been some discussion about the form of walls, but 
I believe most practical men are in favour of simplicity; 
that is to say, right lines, and perpendicular. 
It is the ordinary practice to build garden-walls of 
brick-and a-half work, or what is termed “ fourteen-inch 
walls,” in the country; and doubtless, at ordinary 
heights, this substance of wall is necessary. Garden- 
walls, however, are at the best expensive; and as not 
all concerned may require the height usual in large 
gardens, we may fairly enquire, whether bricks can be 
economized by lessening the thickness as well as height 
of the walls. I have seen walls, in my time, of both 
heavy and light proportions; and have moreover known 
walls to blow down; but, on consulting an old and 
knowing bricklayer, as to the amount of strength neces¬ 
sary, I find that he is less venturesome than I should 
be. He thinks that a nine-inch wall, or single brick 
thick, might do up to nearly seven feet, but would not 
trust it any higher without buttresses or stays. A four¬ 
teen-inch wall, or brick-and-a-half work, he would warrant 
up to twelve or fourteen feet, which, indeed, is as high as 
garden walls are ever carried. Now, I would undertake 
to grow successfully any of our garden fruits on a five- 
feet wall, but such would require peculiar treatment 
during the first three years after planting, and might 
prove rather unsuccesful in inexperienced hands. 
I may here point to copings, without which no garden 
wall is complete. Some have them fixed ; others move- 
able. The latter must be right, whatever may be said of 
the former. It so happens that ourg are fi.xed, and they 
