I had not intended saying any thing about the kitchen-garden, as it hardly comes within a lady's province; but as you tell me you are so much annoyed by your old gardener never having the things you want when you want them, that you think of forming a small kitchen-garden near the house, I shall be very happy to give you my advice as to what appears to me to be the best method of doing so. Every kitchen-garden ought, if possible, to be either square or oblong, for the convenience of planting the beds, and you will find a garden of one acre in extent quite as much as you will be able to manage. I would advise you to have it surrounded by a wall about ten feet high for fruit trees; and in front of this wall there should be a border ten or twelve feet wide; beyond which should be a gravel walk four feet wide, leaving a square or oblong plot of ground in the centre for culinary vegetables. This central plot may either have a main walk up the centre, and two or three side walks, or be left all in one bed, which may be divided into compartments, with paths between, to suit the convenience of the gardener. The best situation for your kitchen-garden will be as near the stable as possible for the convenience of manure; and, of course, it will join the reserve-ground. The surface of the ground should be level, or gently sloping to the south, and there should be no high trees near it. The whole of the garden should be well drained, and you should contrive it so as to have easy access to either pond or river water. A valley or a hill is a bad situation for a kitchen-garden; as the valley is very liable to injury from frost on account of the damps that hang over it; and the hill is not only cold, but exposed to injury from high winds. I have already mentioned that the form of a kitchen-garden should be either square or oblong; and I may add, that the walks should always be straight, as, if they were serpentine, it would be difficult to wheel a barrow of manure along them without overturning it. The square form of the garden, however, is not only on account of the walks, but in order that the compartment in the centre may be divided into oblong beds, as it is most convenient to sow vegetables in straight lines to allow of weeding and hoeing between them, earthing them up, &c. The best soil for a kitchen-garden is a sandy loam, and the surface soil should be from two to three feet deep. You will find it very convenient to have a vinery or forcing-house close to the kitchen-garden; and you can either have a small separate garden for melon and cucumber-beds, called a melon-ground, or this may form a part of your reserve-ground.