30 



THE POTATO. 



early crops, would be all the better for having plenty of 

 decayed vegetable refuse, leaf-mould, and grit mixed with 

 them at the time of digging. You cannot make a soil too 

 friable, nor render it too free from stagnant moisture. 

 Deep tilth drains a soil, and enables its interstices to be 

 filled with air instead of water, renders it drier and 

 warmer, and promotes the development of nitrifying 

 organisms. 



How to Deepen Soil by Trenching:. In trench- 

 ing a piece of land we should avoid the erroneous and bad 

 system of burying the top and good soil, and bringing the 



MODE OF BASTARD-TRENCHING SOIL. 



bottom and bad soil to the top. Some people say that 

 soil so treated is improved in time, which is correct; but 

 the cost of such improvement is conducive to loss rather 

 than profit. We desire to obtain at once the most profit- 

 able crops possible ; and w T e can, and do, obtain such 

 crops by the process of bastard-trenching. By this pro- 



