CHAP. I.] DIGGING. 11 



and turning' it , which may thus be done with 

 perfect ease. 



The time for digging should always be cho- 

 sen, if possible, when the ground is tolerably 

 dry ; not only on account of the danger of 

 taking cold by standing on the damp earth, but 

 because the soil, when damp, adheres to the 

 spade, and is much more difficult to work (as 

 the gardeners call it) than when it is dry. The 

 ground in fields becomes very hard in dry wea- 

 ther ; but this is never the case in a garden, the 

 soil of which is well pulverised by the constant 

 discsino;, forking, hoeing and raking it must 

 undergo, to keep the garden tolerably neat. 

 Every lady should be careful, when she has 

 finished digging, to have her spade dipped in 

 water, and then wiped dry ; after which it 

 should be hung up in some warm dry shed or 

 harness-room, to keep it free from rust ; as 

 nothing lessens the labour of digging more than 

 having a perfectly smooth and polished spade. 

 Should the earth adhere to the spade while dig- 

 ging, dipping the blade in water occasionally 

 will be found to facilitate the operation. 



The purposes for which digging is applied in 

 gardening are : simple digging for loosening the 

 soil in order to prepare it for a crop ; pointing ; 

 burying manure ; exposing the soil to the 

 action of the weather; trenching; ridging; 

 forming pits for planting trees and shrubs, or 

 for fillincr with choice soil for sowing seeds ; 

 and taking up plants when they are to be 

 removed. 



In simple digging, as well as in most of the 

 other kinds, it is customary to divide the bed to 



