6 



THE PRACTICAL GARDENER. 



Other and thereby bruising or beating off their fruit; but in 

 low situations, the fogs, in vernal evenings, by moistening the 

 young shoots of trees and their early flowers, render them 

 much more liable to the injuries of the frosty nights which 

 succeed them, and which they escape in higher situations." 

 Professor Bradley gives a decisive fact in support of this prin- 

 ciple. A friend of his had two gardens, one not many feet 

 above the other, but so different, that the lower garden appeared 

 flooded with the evening mists, when none appeared in the 

 upper ; and, in a letter to Professor Bradley, he complains that 

 his lower garden is much injured by the vernal frosts, while 

 his upper one remained uninjured. 



SITUATION AS REGARDS ASPECT. 



A good aspect for a garden is allowed to be that, v/hich has 

 a gentle declivity towards the south, and inclining rather to- 

 wards the east, in order that it may receive the benefit of the 

 morning sun ; but this inclination should be as slight as pos- 

 sible, or else it will give the garden an awkward appearance. 

 The inclination, however, may be only towards the south, 

 and that not exceeding one foot in twenty, if artificially made, 

 but if the ground have naturally a greater or a less inclination, 

 provided that it be not inconveniently steep, there can be little 

 reason for altering it ; ground, which has a considerable slope 

 towards the south is always the warmest ; a flat or level sur- 

 face is not desirable, it will be cold and present a heavy and 

 dull appearance. 



A north aspect is to be avoided for general purposes, it 

 being always cold and late. It must, however, be admitted 

 that such an aspect has its advantages in summer, by retard- 

 ing many crops which otherwise would be brought to seed 

 before they had acquired a sufficient size for the kitchen. 

 Salads, spinach, and cauliflower, are brought to perfection in 

 northern aspects, when they would make little progress, if 

 exposed to the full powers of the sun. In such situations, 

 peas, and many other vegetables, yield superior crops during 

 the hot summer months, particularly, in dry seasons. In large 

 gardens it would, therefore, be advisable to have a piece of 

 ground enclosed for those particular purposes, as the pro- 



