CHAPTER I. 



STIRRING THE SOIL. 



Diggixg. — Every one knows that the first ope- 

 ration of the gardener, whether a new garden 

 is to be made, or merely an old one replanted, 

 is to dig the ground ; though but comparatively 

 few persons are aware why this is so essential. 

 When a piece of rouoh ground is to be taken 

 into cultivation, and a garden made where there 

 was none before, the use of digging is obvious 

 enough ; as the ground requires to be levelled, 

 and divided by walks, and thrown up into beds, 

 to give it the shape and appearance of a gar- 

 den, which could not be done without stirring 

 the soil : but why the beds in an old garden 

 should be always dug or forked over before they 

 are replanted, is quite another question, and one 

 that it requires some consideration to answer. 



When any soil, except sand or loose gravel, 

 remains unstirred for a length of time, it be- 

 comes hard, and its particles adhere so firmly 

 together as not to be separated without manual 

 force. It is quite clear that when soil is in this 

 state, it is unfit for the reception of seeds ; as 

 the tender roots of the young plants will not be 

 able to penetrate it without o-reat difficultv, and 

 neither air nor water can reach them in suffi- 

 cient quantities to make them thrive. When a 



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