i6 HOW TO LIVE IN THE COUNTRY 



you start at a great disadvantage and are not likely 

 to remain long in the country. 



I do not know of any easier way, as a general rule, 

 to judge of the soil than by the size and thrift of the 

 trees that are growing in it. If you find a huge apple 

 tree, or a grove of fine maples, or oak trees spread- 

 ing themselves over a diameter of sixty feet, or even 

 pine trees standing eighty feet high, do not be afraid 

 of the soil, even if it is very sandy. If you wish 

 to grow fruit, as a rule you must prefer good strong 

 clay, with about twenty per cent of sand; if you want 

 to grow celery and other vegetables mucky soil with 

 a good admixture of sand should be the chief point 

 to consider. 



As a rule, low land is colder than high land, and 

 a slope of hillsides to the east is decidedly preferable 

 for a long-growing season. You may even find that 

 a short distance of an eighth of a mile will make a 

 difference of two months, by cutting off the latest 

 frost in the spring and the earliest in autumn. 



The lay of the land is important for more reasons 

 than I have hinted above. The morning sun is the 

 growing sun, and this you will discover by examining 

 a conservatory on the east front of a house as com- 

 pared with one on the west. Gathering the sun's 

 heat during the day much more freely, these eastern 

 dells and swales will bring to perfection fruits that 

 cannot be grown successfully in any other location- 



This is not quite true of peaches, for the chief 

 trouble with their fruit buds is that they are started 



