GENERAL PRINCIPLES. H 



soil whatever, on a wet or springy subsoil, or even on a soil not springy, but 

 clayey and retentive, can be rendered fit for either garden or field cultivation 

 without considerable expense. On the other hand, any soil on a subsoil not abso- 

 lutely retentive, and not too open, may, at a moderate cost, be highly improved. 

 Rock, of almost every kind, forms a favourable subsoil, because it is generally 

 neither too retentive nor too porous : it is proverbially the best foundation for 

 building on ; and if the surface soil is of sufficient depth, it is fit for every 

 purpose of cultivation. » 



There are some descriptions of decomposing sandstone rock, impregnated 

 with oxide of iron, which form unfavourable subsoils for the culture of fruit 

 trees, and produce canker in them ; but such subsoils can be freed from the 

 bad effects of the iron to a sufficient depth for the culture of herbaceous 

 vegetables, by frequent dressings with quicklime. Dry gravel forms a good 

 subsoil ; but, unless care be taken not to found the walls of a house too deep, 

 and to have a perfect exterior drainagej the surface water will, in rainy sea- 

 sons, find its way into the floor of the sunk story, if there be one. A gravelly 

 subsoil is not the best for a garden ; because, in the summer season, it absorbs 

 too rapidly the water of the surface soil. On marshy or peaty soils or subsoils, 

 no house whatever should be built ; but such surfaces and subsoils may be 

 rendered peculiarly suitable for certain descriptions of garden culture, by 

 judicious draining, or by a command of water combined with the power of 

 laying the whole dry to a certain depth at pleasure. In the case of irregular 

 rocky surfaces such marshy or peaty spots are not unfrequent ; and, when the 

 house can be placed on a rocky knoll, and the garden formed in an adjoining 

 hollow, the concurring circumstances may be considered favourable. 



12. The kind of climate of the given locality is the circumstance of a per- 

 manent nature which, next to elevation and soil, ought most to influence the 

 choice of a country residence. In warm climates, an open and airy situation 

 is preferable to a close and sheltered one ; and in hot climates, such as in Aus- 

 tralia, situations with such an inclination of surface as is favourable for shade, 

 will be sought rather than those with surfaces so inclined as to meet at a more 

 direct angle the sun's rays. In cold climates, sheltered situations will be 

 preferred, for the sake of warmth ; and, in moist climates, elevated dry situa- 

 tions, open to the south, and exposed to the breeze, with a dry subsoil, and 

 good natural surface drainage, afford the only opportunities of counteracting 

 or diminishing the natural inconveniences always attendant on continued 

 rains and fogs. In almost every situation, the wind prevails, throughout the 

 year, more in one direction than in all the others ; and, hence, it is obvious 

 that such winds must blow the smoke of the town or city, throughout the 

 greater portion of the year, in the opposite direction. It will be borne in 

 mind, however, that the natural currents of the wind, in any given locality, 

 are always more or less modified by inequalities of the surface ; and these 

 inequalities, wlien they are so great as to become hills and mountains, will 

 materially affect the theory here laid down. In such cases, the observation 

 of what actually takes place in nature will form the best guide. A large 

 river, in a tolerably straight direction, more especially if acted on by the 

 tides of the sea, has always considerable influence upon the direction of the 

 wind, from the difference which exists between the temperature of the surface 

 of the water, and that of the adjoining land and houses. In the heat of sum- 

 mer, the river has a tendency to create a current of air by its coolness, and 



