below that of the rooms, and having a moveable panelled partition between the rooms and the corridor, provision is made for laying down a temporary wooden floor across the corridor, to connect the two rooms, and thus convert them into a large ballroom or assembly-room, in the midst of all the glass-houses. A basin of water and fountain form the centre point in the conservatory, at 8. Four vineries, with a lean-to roof, but having the half-attic carried along the top for ventilation and effect, face the south at 9. A plant stove, at 10, and a greenhouse, at 31, terminate the vinery range, and start two other series of span-roofed fruit-houses. Those at 12, 13, and 14, are for Peaches and Nectarines, and those at 28, 29, and 30, for Apricots, Plums, and Cherries; each series being again partially stopped by an intermediate plant-house, (15,) and another greenhouse, 27. And here the range is partially broken, and lean-to houses, of half the width, inserted, for the purpose of accommodating the design to the stables, on the east side, and the garden-sheds to the westward; a glass porch (20) giving the means of communicating with the kitchen-garden on either side. The lean-to houses, 22, 23, 25, and 26, are for Strawberries, French Beans, and a variety of smaller fruits and vegetables. At 19 there are two potting-sheds, and two boilerhouses at 21; while there is another boiler-house in the yard, at the back of the gardener's cottage, which is at 40. A mushroom-house is at 32, a fruit-room at 33, and a shed for washing vegetables, and a root-house, at 34 and 35. A long open shed is placed at 36, with a poultry-house (38) at the back; 37 being a garden-yard, and 39 a poultry-yard. Three span-roofed orchard-houses, for Pears, &c., complete the chain of glass-houses at 24, the wall on the south side of these being a blank one, as there is a public road behind.

The Orchid-house, at 11, constitutes a link for attaching another series of span-roofed houses, and the whole of these eastern and western ranges, as well as that on the south, are two feet below the level of the vineries and conservatory, to accommodate the natural inclination of the ground to the south. The three houses, at 16, are for Pines, and the narrower and less lofty ones, at 17 and 18, for Cucumbers and Melons; a covered way being carried across from 18 to the other range at 20, so as to enable any one to pass from the mansion through the entire set of houses without

once going into the open air. A continuous promenade, under glass, of more than five hundred yards in length, would thus be afforded; and, with the great variety of objects that would be embraced and cultivated, would certainly supply an incessant fund of interest.

41 is a shed for miscellaneous uses, and there are pig-styes at 42; the stable buildings surrounding the yard at 43. A convenient sheltered spot is provided (44) for receiving such greenhouse plants in pots as require to be turned out in summer. The kitchen-garden is at 45, with a basin of water, (46,) which is particularly necessary for such a sandy soil, as a central ornament. There is a sunk bowling-green at 47, and the house-yard

is at 48.

Altogether, when completed, this magnificent series of glasshouses will be among the most perfect, unique, and compact examples of the kind in the country; for everything is being carried out in the most liberal spirit, and with the best modern appliances.

12. It has before been intimated, in passing, that a kitchengarden should be placed in the rear of the house, and be as near as possible to both it and the stables, communicating with each pretty easily and directly, and without the necessity of going through the pleasure-grounds. The reason of these things is plain and simple. As a kitchen is, itself, generally kept at the back of the house, and a kitchen-garden has to be in communication with it, the two should be in close proximity. The manure, also, from the stables having to be used in the kitchengarden, ought to be capable of being readily applied; and hence the desirableness of connecting the two parts as nearly as can be done.

A kitchen-garden, being intended for convenience and use, should be of some regular figure, and have the walks, beds, and borders as much as practicable in straight lines, and at right angles from each other. Any different arrangement would waste the ground to no purpose, and render it less easily worked.

Where practicable, and when the space is pretty ample, a kitchen-garden will be warmer if entirely walled in, and the walls will supply the means of growing a number of the better sorts of fruit trees. The wall on the side nearest the north should be at least twelve or fourteen feet high, and, like all the

rest, should have a coping to project two or three inches. There may also be a good plantation behind this wall, if convenient, or at no great distance from it, to increase the shelter. The side walls can be the same or a lesser height;-ten feet will probably be sufficient. And the front wall should not be higher than six feet, or five feet six inches, unless it can be utilised on the south side; or its place may be supplied by a hedge, if absolute enclosure is not needed. Where a plantation is necessary on the south side of a kitchen-garden, to screen it from the pleasure grounds, it should be composed only of shrubs.

In the construction of garden walls, it is better to make them of the requisite thickness, to secure stability, without the aid of piers or buttresses, which are always in the way of fruit trees when placed inside a garden. Hollow walls will often be preferable, as affording greater dryness and consequent warmth, and giving the means of using artificial heat for ripening the wood of trees in bad climates. Bricks are certainly the best material for these walls, where they can be readily procured; for, presenting frequent mortared joints, they enable a gardener to train his trees more perfectly, by nailing. But, if bricks are difficult to obtain, or would be too glaring in colour, or would not harmonise with the rest of the walls about a place, any form of stone wall, with plenty of galvanised horizontal wires for tying the trees to, will be appropriate, if the joints are well stopped and pointed, so as to leave no harbourage for insects.

All round the inside of a kitchen-garden, whether it have walls or not, there should be a border of greater or less width, that, according to its aspect, the various kinds of suitable plants that take up little space, or require a peculiar position, may find their proper place. Such borders are still more requisite when there are walls, to give space for the roots of fruit trees to spread in them, and to bring the trees more thoroughly within reach. They may vary in width from six to twelve or fifteen feet, with reference to the size of the garden, and the kind of tree that has to be cultivated in them, and the height of the walls. Borders with a warm sunny aspect can be wider than such as are colder and more shaded.

On the inner side of the walks, and either at the front or back of another small border, a good place for fruit trees treated as espaliers will be found. When walls are not used, or there

are not enough of them for growing such things as some of the better kinds of Pear, espalier fences will be a good substitute; and may sometimes be employed with advantage for Apples likewise. Strong wire fences, about six feet high, for espaliers, are now mostly preferred to wooden ones for appearance and durability; and they are also more convenient, because of the smallness and roundness of the bars. In the absence of espaliers, however, these inside borders may be appropriated to dwarf Pear, Apple, Cherry, or Plum trees, and, if the space permit, to Gooseberries and Currants as well. The borders which run north and south should generally be devoted to espalier and other trees, and Gooseberry, Currant, Raspberry, or other bushes be put on the borders that take a contrary direction. This rule is derived from the amount of shade cast by trees, however dwarf they may be.

When the form of a kitchen-garden is a parallelogram, the longest sides should be those from east to west, that a greater length of south wall may be obtained. And if there be a secondary slope in the ground, as well as one to the south, it should be to the west in preference to the east; for crops that are growing on an eastern bank suffer most from spring frosts, in consequence of their catching the sun so much earlier in the morning.

Either within the kitchen-garden, or not far from it, there should be a moderately large cistern, basin, or pool of water, or a pump with an open cistern attached. A good deal of watering is sometimes required; and water is always so much better for plants when it has been well exposed to the action of the air, in an open cistern or vessel.

Somewhere at the back of the kitchen-garden, one or more sheds will be wanted for a variety of uses, together with a yard for rubbish, manure, compost, &c., and which last should bo accessible, at some point, with a horse and cart. Outside the kitchen-garden, there may be a slip too, for the coarser vegetables, and to form borders for fruit trees in the case of walls being used. A small plot of ground to be set apart for a reserve garden or nursery, in the neighbourhood of the other working departments of a place; will generally be found a useful dépôt for what might be termed the "odds and ends" of plant cultivation.

Perfect drainage is particularly essential for a kitchen-garden, and a rather deep alluvial soil. Beyond the depth of two feet, however, any ground or border will be unfit for fruit trees; and, for the better kinds, it will be prudent to put a layer of stones and rubbish below the border at that depth, to prevent the roots from passing away too far from light and air. If a kitchen-garden be on a slope towards any point near the south, it will be drier and warmer, both of which would be advantageous.

A kitchen-garden may sometimes be made to embrace an ornamental strip of ground down the centre, for the display of flowers, and this may take the form of a border on either side of a grass path, or of a series of flower-beds, cut out of grass, on the sides of a gravel walk. In both instances, the dressed portion should be well defined, and separated from the vegetable department, by hedges, or by what would be much more appropriate and useful-espalier fruit trees.

Every one who may have been to the old July fêtes of the Horticultural Society, at the Chiswick gardens, and who have availed themselves of the privilege, accorded by the Duke of Devonshire on those occasions, of passing into the grounds attached to Chiswick House, will have noticed, by the sides of the green path through the kitchen-garden, an example of the first of the practices thus recommended; there being usually two or three rows of such plants as Scarlet Geraniums and Calceolarias, which, from the length of the lines, acquire a striking appearance.

I shall now give a specimen of the other mode of treatment suggested, as well as a sample of the arrangement of plant and fruit-houses, planned by me for John Noble, Esq., of Berry Hill, near Maidenhead. The plan (fig. 214) includes the kitchengarden, garden-yard, and contiguous parts; and although, subsequently to its being engraved, the course actually followed has involved some modification of the design, it will not be of less value on that account. A public road, as will be seen, runs along the east side of the garden, and nearly parallel with it. This is excluded by a plantation of strong evergreens. The rural character of the garden, too, and its attachment to the rest of the place, (which is somewhat narrow,) is preserved by the omission of a garden-wall, and the substitution of a Yew hedge around it. A similar Yew hedge is continued round a