HOW TO PREPARE THE SOIL 



half or three feet and filled with top soil enriched 

 with well-rotted manure or compost. 



" Top soil," strange though it may seem to 

 one struggling with numerous bewildering tech- 

 nicalities, means exactly what it says: it is the 

 soil lying on top of the earth. It usually con- 

 tains decayed vegetable matter, some of which 

 has come down to us from the Palaeozoic and 

 other polysyllabic ages. As might be supposed, 

 the " decayed vegetable matter " is quite well de- 

 cayed. The top soil on account of its difference 

 in colour and texture can readily be distinguished 

 from the subsoil. The depth of top soil varies 

 from two inches to four feet: the usual depth on 

 the level in the middle Atlantic States is about 

 six inches. 



Top soil in which peonies have not been grown 

 before is best. It has been proved by much ex- 

 perience that peonies do not thrive in a soil in 

 which peonies have previously been grown. There 

 is also the possibility of the soil having been in- 

 fected by some peony root that was diseased. 



The operations necessary to prepare the trench 

 are extremely simple and extremely laborious. 

 After the length and width of the trench are de- 



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