Page:A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and, and the Art of Making Wine.pdf/53

Rh is apparent throughout the vegetable kingdom. Timber, cut on the northern aspect of a hill, is much less combustible than what grows on a southern exposure. Odorous and savoury plants lose their odour and savour when produced on a rich soil, looking to the north. Pliny has observed, that the timber on the south of the Appenines, was superior to what grew on a different aspect, and every one knows the effects of exposure on leguminous plants, and fruits.

These phenomena, observable in all the products of vegetation, are peculiarly remarkable in the vine. A vine looking to the south, produces fruits which seem of a different nature from those of one looking northwards. Even in a vineyard, having everywhere the same exposure, the greater or less inclination of the surface has its effect in producing modifications in the quality of the wine, while the summit, the middle, and the base of a hill, furnish product's entirely different.

The naked summit receives every instant the impression of changes and movements in the atmosphere;—there the winds agitate the plant;—fogs produce there a more constant, and more direct impression,—the temperature of the air is colder, and more variable;—there, also, hoar frosts are more frequent; and all these causes combine in lessening the quantity of fruit, in checking its