SOUTHEEN EXPOSURE. 47 



the north, as they require the direct rays of the sun 

 to bring them to sufficient maturity to produce 

 wine, and the cold temperature of the north would 

 delay this until the early frosts of autumn would 

 have prevented it. 



Southern exposure. This is much more liable to 

 extremes than the northern. All except the most 

 hardy fruits will be affected injuriously by the 

 thaws of winter. But those which do successfully 

 baffle with these hardships produce the most lus- 

 cious specimens, as the power of the sun is greater 

 here, and the saccharine fermentation proceeds 

 with vigor. On this exposure the amateur would 

 not think of planting any but the most hardy va- 

 rieties. There are some fruits, such as the grape, 

 which flourish on a southern slope. There they 

 receive a greater degree of heat, and their maturity 

 is therefore hastened before the early frosts of au- 

 tumn. In such a case the cold does not injure 

 them, because they contain so much sugar, while it 

 destroys those wliich are immature. The air is 

 dryer, too, and they are not so subject to mildew 

 and other diseases. 



The cultivation of fruit in low valleys is accom- 

 panied with great risk ; while it is superior to all 

 others in beauty, yet the succulent growth conse- 

 quent upon a stagnation of the air, and a partial 

 exhaustion of its carbonic acid, renders the wood 



