HOW TO RENOVATE AN OLD GARDEN. 



for all kinds of disease, I at once prescribe trenching. As the class of readers to which I 

 allude may not be acquainted Avith the modus operandi, I will proceed to lay my method 

 before them — which from long experience, I have known to be effectual. 



We will suppose a square of ground in the garden, bounded by walks east, west, north 

 and south, and we will commence at the west side and trench towards the east. The first 

 thing to be done, is to open a trench two and and a half feet wide, and two feet deep, on 

 the west side, running from north to south — throw the earth from this trench in a pile 

 along the west side of it — the practice of many in wheeling this opening over to the east 

 side, where they are to finish, I always considered nearly one-third of the Avhole labor. 

 As sooh as the first trench is shoveled out clean, to the depth of two feet, (I vary the 

 depth according to the nature of the subsoil, i. e., if good sandy loam I go deeper, if very 

 gravelly, not so deep, say eighteen or twenty inches,) I commence by placing a laj'er of 

 dung along the bottom of the trench — at the rate of am large barrow load to every fifteen 

 feet of the trench. I then mark with a line, another trench at the east side of this, two 

 and a half feet wide also, and having one of "Ames' spades," No. 2, I proceed to dig the 

 top of this trench and throw it on the dung which is placed on the bottom of the first; in 

 digging, I put the spade down its full length, and proceed until I have the entire surface 

 soil of the second trench on the bottom of the first. There will be a quantity of loose 

 earth after this spading — before I shovel this in, I spread another coat of manure on top 

 of the earth I have just thrown in, and then shovel the loose earth on top of it. I now 

 commence to dig the bottom of the second trench, throwing it also on to the first, and 

 shovel out the loose earth that falls from my spade, leaving the bottom of the trench level 

 and clean. I have now the first trench finished, and proceed on toward the east the same 

 wa}' — lining ofi" everj- trench until I come M'ithin four of the end; I then commence mak- 

 ing each of my trenches about five inches narrower than the preceding one — the object of 

 this is to bring it gradually to a close — the last trench being about fifteen inches wide. 

 Having placed the manure at the bottom of the last trench, as before directed, I now com- 

 mence leveling back, and bringing the whole piece to a grade. In this process let the spade 

 down as deep as possible, in order to mix the old soil and the new, thoroughly — I keep it 

 well from me, remembering that I have a pile of earth at the Avest side, that has got to be 

 worked in. The chief advantage that I claim for this method, (which has no claim to ori- 

 nality,)is the chance it gives me of having a good opening where I finish, of giving the soil 

 a thorough mixing — another is, I can spade the whole piece over in half the time it would 

 take me to wheel the opening surplus over to the east side. I would here suggest, if the 

 sub-soil is not too hard, it would be the most perfect mode, to spade the first coat of ma- 

 nure into the bottom of the trench, which would loosen the soil eight or ten inches more. 

 I trenched an asparagus bed in this style for Messrs. Parsons', of Flashing, six years 

 ago — here I could not practice it, the subsoil being too hard. 



After the piece is leveled, I put on a good top-dressing of manure; and the best crops 

 to plant the first year would be potatoes, cabbage or cauliflower, anything in fact, that 

 requires a good deal of hoeing. October and November is the best time to trench — you 

 have more leisure then ; the ground is more easily worked ; you can put all your melon 

 vines, carrot, parsnep, turnep, and beet tops, leaves, &c., in the bottom of your trenches. 

 As soon as the frost is out of the ground in the spring, is the next best time. Ground 

 that has been trenched, will, in eight or ten years, become black by the annual application 

 of manure — trench this over again and it will improve it. It is a great mistake for any 

 suppose he can renovate an old garden, by piling on it annually, a quantity of 

 manure — if he will not trench, he must try a rotation of manures, say lime one 



