Having obtained permission from the general to see the place, we passed on to the kitchen-garden. In this garden, the first things which we observed were glass frames, in M. Lindegaard's manner, for ripening peaches and nectarines against the walls, without fire-heat. These frames occasion very little trouble; and the fruit comes in between the forced peaches and those ripened on the open wall. There are a number of hot-houses and pits, in which pine-apples, melons, and other articles are admirably grown. On one wall there are several apricot trees, which, Mr. Groom, the gardener, informed us, the general considered to be as old as the place: they bear abundantly every year. A branch of the river Kennet passes through the lower part of the garden, in a straight walled canal: thus affording an opportunity of growing excellent watercresses, and of keeping crawfish, eels, and other fish in stews. There is a pond for carp, surrounded by a rockwork or ridge of flints, planted with strawberries, the fruit of which ripens a fortnight or three weeks sooner than that in the open garden. [Editor's note: Littlecot Park is 3.5 miles north west of Hungerford].
