PLANTING AND MANURING 45 



"spit" off old pasture or meadow land. The top 

 " spit " only should be used, and this should not be 

 removed to a greater depth than five or six inches. 

 Turf taken off at this depth will generally contain all 

 that is best in the soil of either pasture or meadow land. 



Although not absolutely necessary, it will be found 

 advantageous if the loam be obtained six or eight 

 months previous to the time when it will be required 

 for use. It should be removed from the fields, and 

 carefully stacked, in order to kill the grass and partially 

 decay the turf. Partially decayed loam is in all respects 

 better than that which has just been procured from the 

 fields. The trees make better roots in it, and it is 

 also easier to chop with the spade a thing which will 

 be found necessary to do before it can be put on the 

 beds. The grass has also to be considered ; and unless 

 this is covered by a good depth of ordinary garden soil, 

 it will prove exceedingly troublesome during at least 

 the first year after planting. Of course, if the garden 

 be a large one, and operations can be carried out on 

 a large scale, the removal of the old soil and replace- 

 ment by other and more suitable loam will entail a 

 considerable amount both of labour and expense. But, 

 as I have before observed, nothing should be left 

 undone at this period of the work that will help to 

 ensure its future success. 



There is, however, another and more simple method 

 of replacing the soil, and one which may answer the 

 purpose equally well. After the beds have been made, 

 the places may be marked out where it is intended to 

 plant the trees. The soil may then be removed and a 

 hole made of from four to five feet in diameter and from 

 two to three feet in depth, according to the size of the 

 tree it is proposed to plant. By following this method 

 the labour and cost of removing the entire soil from the 

 beds and replacing it with new loam will be to a great 



