DRAINAGE. 



147 



mediate valleys as little protected as a more open and 

 apparently less protected position. 

 ■ And it is needful to remark that tlie beautiful or the 

 picturesque are not the only considerations to be taken 

 into account in selecting a proper site for fruit and 

 kitchen gardens. These desirable properties are more 

 than counterbalanced by the disadvantages arising from 

 a cold exposure and damp soil, which unfailingly render 

 the crops of fruit and vegetables of inferior quality. 

 The site to be sought for, and to be found if possible, 

 is one with a good soil, a dry subsoil, and a sunny ex- 

 posure, sheltered sufficiently, but not shaded. The 

 ground should be level, or rather, perhaps, with a slight 

 declivity towards the south. A northern exposure 

 should be avoided : we would prefer even a considerable 

 declivity to the south, though steep inclinations require 

 more labour in cultivation than level surfaces. 



A certain amount of shelter is indispensable to a 

 good garden ; and where this is not to be had, sites in 

 other respects favourable are to be avoided. Some 

 natural protection should be sought for, particularly 

 when the place is destitute of old plantations. Shelter 

 may certainly be obtained by judicious planting ; but it 

 is to be remembered that in exposed situations fifteen 

 or twenty years may elapse before it becomes effective. 



The Drainage of a garden should be perfect— certainly 

 at least not inferior to that thorough draining now em- 

 ployed for agricultural pm^poses. To most horticultural 

 operations a completely drained and therefore warm soil 

 is essential : damp ground yields only inferior vegetables, 

 and supports only diseased, short-lived, and unproduc- 

 tive trees, bearing ill-favoured fruit— a state of matters, 

 however, not unfrequently seen in gardens of consider- 



H 2 



