of the nozzle of a strong pipe in the centre of a pond, throwing up a thick column of water to a considerable height. They are generally too large for terraces or flower-gardens. They may be introduced into some of the principal lawns within sight of the house, and in such situations, especially when partially backed or encompassed with trees, they are extremely brilliant and effective. It must be owned that there is seldom a supply of water copious enough to maintain such waterworks in continuous action.

Besides the power of introducing artificial water into a park or pleasure-ground, the propriety of so introducing it remains to be determined, and that is a matter sometimes requiring to be carefully weighed and considered. There are certain cases in which such attempts approach to manifest absurdity. It is possible, for example, to conceive a limited place with a mansionhouse beautifully seated on an eminence, from which the ground slopes on at least three sides, and the whole of the kept grounds might be on these slopes. Water might undoubtedly be brought from the fourth side, and a fountain or two might be perfectly admissible, or even desirable, but certainly an artificial lake or river, or even pond, on the slopes, could be nothing less than ridiculous. It is, if possible, still more questionable taste to elaborate artificial sheets of water in sight of the sea, a fine inland lake, or navigable river. In these cases, the grand of nature invariably overpowers the puny efforts of art. We cannot help associating the same feelings with jets d'eau; they do not harmonize at all with marine, and scarcely with lake scenery. If they must be introduced into such localities, let them be so placed that there may be no apparent competition between the tiny murmurs of

their falling waters and the hoarser surge of the shore. In ordinary weather there is as much spray from the curl of a wave over a small rock or considerable stone as from the finest fountain or jet d'eau. A young friend, who had recently inspected a water-power of this description playing in a flower-garden near the sea, favoured us with the following lines descriptive of such artistic efforts ::

Old Father Ocean merely smiled,
To see this puny earth-born child
Send up its tiny stream of spray,
To spurt and splutter for a day.

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CHAPTER IX.

THE KITCHEN, FRUIT, AND FORCING GARDENS.

Introduction. The Site.-Drainage.—Soil.—The Form.-The Walls.-The Fruit Garden.-The Forcing Garden.

GARDENS intended for the production of fruit and culinary vegetables belong to the subject of horticulture, and therefore, in their full extent, do not come within the scope of this work. Their formation, as well as their culture, must be regulated by principles and methods specially belonging to them. They are, however, objects within the park, and bear certain relations to its component parts. If these relations are altogether neglected, the beauty of the surrounding scenery may be materially affected; and if they are exclusively attended to, the value of these gardens, in their proper character, may be greatly diminished. In laying out a country residence, a careful adjustment must be made between these competing claims. To aid these sometimes difficult arrangements, we propose in this chapter to offer some general observations, without entering into lengthened or minute details.

The kitchen, fruit, and forcing gardens are generally so connected, and often so intermingled, as to form one

establishment, and there is in them such a community of objects and operations as to warrant this union. In some cases, too, borders of flowers and of ornamental plants enter into the combination, and then they form what may be called mixed gardens. These mixed gardens are certainly finer than mere vegetable grounds, and they require a superior style of keeping; but when this system of combination is carried so far as to supersede the flower-garden proper, we think it greatly to be deprecated. In England the mixed garden is of rarer occurrence than in Scotland. In the latter country we not unfrequently meet with extensive parks in which there is no separate flower-garden, and where all the departments of both horticulture and floriculture are jumbled together with much confusion. Undoubtedly a greater amount of ornamental effect results, but considerably less expense is incurred in keeping when the last is wholly separated, or when at most the fruit and kitchen gardens only are placed together. In the following remarks we shall not advert further to the mixed garden, but shall confine our observations to those grounds which are exclusively fitted and intended to yield a supply of fruit and vegetables-a matter of no small importance to a family residing in the country.

Site. The primary consideration in reference to these gardens is their site, and more particularly its position in relation to the other parts of the park and grounds. Their unpicturesque appearance is such as to require that they should be screened, if not entirely hid, from the main points of view in the surrounding park, otherwise they prove detrimental to the general scenery. Certainly they should not be visible from the principal approach, nor from the windows of the mansion-house.

H

In ordinary circumstances it is not expedient to remove them to too great a distance from the house, neither should they be placed altogether in its immediate vicinity. Perhaps the most desirable position is one in a secluded part of the pleasure-grounds, where they can be set down in connection with each other, and where their walks can enter readily into the main system of communication running throughout the place. In a locality of this description, their walls and other buildings can be most effectually shrouded, and on that account the general scenery will be least impaired. When the stables are detached from the mansion-house, the fruit and kitchen gardens may be placed near them, with advantage to the general arrangements of the place, as the same back roads will serve for both, and facility of access will thus be increased.

In parks in which there are considerable eminences or ridges, the gardens in question are not unfrequently placed at the base of one or other of these, for the sake of shelter. Before adopting such a site however, the designer will do well to study the effect of that arrangement as viewed from the neighbouring heights. There is scarcely anything less pleasing than a square boxlike enclosure when seen from an eminence at a moderate distance. Of course there need be no hesitation when the heights are not traversed by any of the principal walks or rides; for on uneven surfaces it is impossible to avoid all unpleasing effects from every point of the park. At the same time it should be ascertained that the expectation of shelter from the situations to which we have alluded is not fallacious. Rising grounds sometimes cause a repercussion of the aerial currents, or so direct their movements as to render the inter