34: TheGarden. 



be underdrained ; but if the stratum of clay be shallow, trench- 

 ing or subsoil plowing will answer a good purpose. 



Improvement of Sandy Soils. — If your plot be sandy, its 

 improvement, though equally necessary, is less difficult. The 

 defects of sandy soils, as we have seen, are lack of adhesive- 

 ness, want of affinity for water, and a leachy character, which 

 permits the escape of manures. Clay is the principal remedy 

 indicated, and a few loads, well incorporated with the original 

 soil, will have an astonishing effect in improving a sandy gar- 

 den. The required tenacity is thus very readily imparted. 



Lime is scarcely less valuable for application to sandy than 

 to clayey soils ; for while it separates the latter, it renders the 

 former more adhesive. Gypsum, ashes, and clay marls are 

 also exceedingly useful. To these applications should be added 

 the frequent use of a heavy roller. 



Where a sandy soil rests upon a clayey subsoil, as is not un- 

 frequently the case, it may be greatly improved by trenching 

 or deep plowing, by means of which a portion of the subsoil 

 is thrown up and mixed with the surface soil. 



Sandy soils, modified as we have indicated, being warm, 

 quick, and easy of cultivation, are the best in the world for 

 tap-rooted plants and bulbs, and for the production of early 

 crops of almost every kind. 



Gravelly soils resemble sandy soils in their characteristic 

 defects, and require similar treatment ; but they are less desir- 

 able, and require greater modifications to adapt them to gar- 

 dening purposes. 



The other soils named require similar treatment in proportion 

 as they approach the clayey or sandy character. 



Depth of Soil. — The soil of most gardens (except on the 

 alluvial bottoms of the "West) requires improvement in depth 

 quite as much as in any other particular. In no part of your 

 garden should you be satisfied with less than two feet of good, 

 friable soil, easily permeable by the roots of plants. A stiU 

 greater depth is desirable, especially in the fruit department. 

 Few who have not had their attention specially drawn to the 



