Soils and Manures. 35 



subject are aware how deeply the roots of some species of 

 plants penetrate, when permitted by a proper state of the soil. 

 The roots of a strawberry plant are said to have been traced 

 Jixie feet in a deep, rich soil. 



Trenching and subsoil plowing are the processes by which 

 the depth of soil is increased. The former is an expensive 

 process, but, in gardening, a remunerative one; the latter is 

 much cheaper, and, where it can be applied, serves a good 

 purpose. 



Trenching, or subsoil plowing, is positively essential where 

 the summers are long and dry, as in portions of the Southern 

 States. Mr. White, in his "Gardening for the South," says 

 very truly that there is no point of greater importance than 

 this. "Poor ground, deeply moved," he adds, "is better than 

 rich land with shallow tillage ; and when the ground has been 

 once prepared in this way, it will feel the benefit forever after. 

 Increasing the depth of the soil in this mode is, to all intents 

 and purposes, increasing the size of your garden ; for one fourth 

 of an acre thus prepared will yield, in a dry season, as much 

 as an acre will with shallow tillage, and the growth of plants 

 in good seasons will be fully doubled." 



Trenching should be performed in the fall, and any coarse 

 manures you may wish to apply dug in at the time. For a 

 description of the process of trenching, see Chapter III. 



Color of Soils. — The color of a soil has an important relation 

 to its capacity for heat and moisture, and consequently to its 

 adaptedness for horticultural purposes. Dark-colored earths, 

 all other things being equal, are the best. 



Old Gardens. — Some old and small gardens are in a very 

 bad state from excess of nutritive matters, or rather from the 

 unavailable state in which these matters exist in the soil, which, 

 instead of consisting of friable mold, presents only a black, 

 shining substance, known to chemists as humic acid. This is 

 the product of manures saturated with stagnant water, and is 

 the result of excessive manuring, frequent watering, and lack 

 of drainage, ^o condition can be more unfavorable to the 



