SITLATION AND ASPECT. 



9 



most preper for the apple, though such have been 

 most erroneously recommended by writers who ought 

 to have known better. For it is often seen that apple 

 trees succeed well in any kind of loam, though it be not 

 more than one foot in depth, so as the bottom is 

 sound and dry, the roots take an extensive horizontal 

 range, the young wood is always of more moderate 

 growth, and better ripened than where roots strike 

 deep into the ground. 



Although local circumstances often control the 

 wishes of the planter, compelling him to fix on a site 

 where the soil may not be exactly like what is recom- 

 mended above ; he must, in this case, endeavour to 

 make the soil by trenching, draining, and by addition 

 of the qualities wanting, bring it as near to the standard 

 as possible. 



Of the Situation and Aspect, — The situation of an 

 orchard should neither be in the bottom of a narrow^ 

 valley, nor on the top of a hill : in the first, the 

 bearing wood is never so well ripened, the buds are 

 often too early excited in the spring, and there, frosts 

 are always more intensely felt; in the second, fruit- 

 bearing trees are always too much exposed to 

 winds. The most desirable site is the side of a hill 

 which slopes gently to the south, or south-east. If 

 higher ground or a belt of forest trees bound it on 

 the north, it is an advantage, as yielding shelter, often 

 necessary to break the cutting winds of March and 

 April. A western aspect is not to be preferred, be- 

 cause of the violent gales often experienced from that 

 quarter ; more especially during the months of 



