GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 9 



9. Aspect. — By the aspect of gi-ound, is generally understood the direction 

 of its surface relatively to the different points of the compass. A south-eastern 

 aspect, or that in which the surface of the ground has an inclination to the 

 south-east, is, in Britain, generally considered the best, because it is the 

 warmest. The winds from the south-east are never very violent : they are 

 neither so cold nor so dry as those from the east, and they occur less fre- 

 quently than winds from any other quarter. On a hill side, especially if the 

 hill be high, the aspect least subject to high winds is decidedly to be preferred; 

 but, in a flat country, a slight inclination of the surface, ia any direction what- 

 ever, is a matter of no great consequence. An aspect to the south is, in some 

 cases, less favourable than one to the north: for example, when the objects 

 which are seen from the windows of the house are near ; as, in that case, the 

 worst side of the trees is seen, and that side will be wholly in shade, during 

 the most agreeable part of the day, in winter and spring. An aspect to the 

 north, on the other hand, shows the best side of the trees ; the light side of all 

 objects, during winter and spring ; and the greatest variety of light and shade 

 during summer, and, in short, throughout the year. In the choice of a situa- 

 tion for a house and grounds, the views from the house should not alone be 

 taken into consideration. Recreation in the open air is one of the great 

 advantages of a country residence; and an aspect sloping to the south will 

 admit of the grounds being walked in during winter, when, with one sloping 

 to the north, they will be covered with snow, frost, or moisture. Land sloping 

 to the south may also be much sooner walked on after rain, at all seasons; and 

 it is a great source of enjoyment to persons living in the country, and fond of 

 seeing the progress of vegetation, to examine their gardens and grounds 

 immediately after a shower, while the trees and plants are in the very crisis 

 of excitement, produced by a liberal supply of water after a long drought. 

 Every one knows that a garden sloping to the south or south-east not only 

 produces earlier crops, whether of culinary vegetables, fruits, or flowers, than 

 any other, but that it may also be walked in through the greater part of the 

 winter. Grass fields open to the south produce earlier pasture, and the corn 

 grown on arable land so situated ripens sooner. 



10. Soil. — Though the soil, in small spots, may be very much changed by 

 art; and though, in suburban gardens of only two or three perches, tlie soil 

 may be entirely artificial, and consequently be made, in a great measure, what 

 the proprietor wishes it ; yet it is always desirable, where it can be done, to 

 choose a soil which is good by nature. If we were asked what was the single 

 quality in a soil, the predominance of which would entitle it to be called good, 

 we should say friability. With reference to a small dwelling-house, and also 

 to a small garden, this quality is more especially desirable, since it will almost 

 always be found easier to alter the texture of a dry soil so as to render 

 it retentive of moisture, than to drain and alter the texture of a wet soil 

 so thoroughly as to give it a character of dryness. A dry soil may either 

 have sand or gravel as its prevailing quality : the gravel affords the best foun- 

 dation for a house, and the sand, the best subsoil for a garden. A soil, how- 

 ever, may be naturally either sandy or gravelly, and yet not be dry, from 

 being placed on a retentive subsoil, or from the subsoil being connected with 

 the watery subsoil of higher grounds. In the case of a retentive subsoil, the 

 surface soil, though sandy in its original nature, from being long saturated 

 with surface water, and from that water containing vegetable matter. 



