CHAP. I.] RIDGING. 15 



speedilv as possible ; as, if left long exposed in 

 small quantities to the air in hot dry weather, 

 it loses a great part of its nutritious qualities by 

 evaporation. 



Ridging. — Digging for the purpose of ex- 

 posing the soil to the action of the weather, 

 trenching, and ridging on a large scale, are 

 operations too laborious to be performed by 

 any one but a gardener's labourer. To be 

 done well, the earth in all these cases should be 

 removed in lar^e spadefuls at a time, and 

 turned over without breaking ; on which ac- 

 count these operations are best performed in 

 moist weather, when the earth is in an adhesive 

 state. Ridging on a small scale is, however, 

 verv useful even in a flower-garden, to mix air 

 with the soil, where it is hard and unproduc- 

 tive. This kind of ridging is performed by 

 opening a trench, and throwing up the loose 

 earth out of it in the form of a ridge ; and 

 then opening another trench, and forming 

 another ridge in the same manner. The whole 

 garden is thus thrown into a series of ridges and 

 trenches, which should be suffered to remain 

 all the winter, and be levelled in spring. It is 

 obvious that this mode of ameliorating the soil 

 can only be practised where the garden is not 

 likely to be visited during winter, as it destroys 

 all beauty, and has a peculiarly desolate and 

 forlorn appearance. It is thus a remedy only 

 to be resorted to in extreme cases ; but for- 

 tunately there are very few flower-gardens in 

 which the soil is in so bad a state as to re- 

 quire it. 



The other kinds of digging are, to form pits 



