THE SOIL, AND ITS PREPARATION. 23 



be two feet deep. With a line, mark off a 

 slice two feet wide immediately adjoining the 

 open trench ; throw one foot of the top soil of 

 this slice into the bottom of the open trench, 

 and on the top of this throw the remaining foot 

 of bottom soil. By this operation the trench 

 has been filled, and the order of the soils re 

 versed ; the best, or surface soil, being at the 

 bottom of the trench, and the poorest, or sub 

 soil, on the top. We have at the same time 

 opened a new trench. This is to be filled in 

 the same manner as the first, and the operation 

 repeated until the whole plot has been trenched. 

 The last trench is to be filled with the soil that 

 was removed from the first. If the plot of 

 ground is large, some labor will be saved by 

 making the trenches half the width of the 

 plot, going down on one side and returning on 

 the other. The last trench will then be on a 

 line with the first, and there will be but little 

 carting needed to fill it. This is a brief de 

 scription of trenching, but we hope sufficiently 

 plain to be understood. It will be observed 

 that our operation has buried the good soil, 

 and brought the poor or subsoil to the surface, 

 which must be enriched with muck, manure, or 

 good surface soil from some other place, and we 



