8 STIRRING THE SOIL. [CELAP. L 



with the earth that is to be turned over, and in 

 the hands to grasp the handle. But it must be 

 remembered that all operations that are effected 

 rapidly by the exertion of great power, may be 

 effected slowly by the exertion of very little 

 power, if that comparatively feeble power be 

 applied for a much greater length of time. For 

 example, if a line be drawn by a child in the 

 earth with a light cane, and the cane be drawn 

 five or six times successively along the same 

 line, it will be found that a furrow has been 

 made in the soil with scarcely any exertion by 

 the child, that the strongest man could not 

 make by a single effort with all his force. In 

 the same way, a lady with a small light spade 

 may, by repeatedly digging over the same line, 

 and taking out only a little earth at a time, 

 succeed in doing, with her own hands, all the 

 digging that can be required in a small garden, 

 the soil of which, if it has been long in cultiva- 

 tion, can never be very hard or very difficult to 

 penetrate : and she will not only have the satis- 

 faction of seeino- the garden created, as it were, 

 by the labour of her own hands, but she will 

 find her health and spirits wonderfully improved 

 by the exercise, and by the reviving smell of 

 the fresh earth. • 



The first point to be attended to, in order 

 to render the operation of digging less labo- 

 rious, is to provide a suitable spade ; that is, 

 one which shall be as light as is consistent with 

 strength, and which will penetrate the ground 

 with the least possible trouble. For this pur- 

 pose, the blade of what is called a lady's spade 

 is made of not more than half the usual breadth, 



