TRENCHING 391 



From the fifth square throw the loam to the third square, and the 

 subsoil to the fourth square. 



Proceed in this manner to the end of the strip, always mixing 

 your enriching material with the subsoil, when in the next to the 

 last square you will have subsoil only, and in the last square, to 

 the depth of two feet, you will have nothing. 



Begin now the second strip, working backward. From the first 

 square pitch the loam into the next to last square in the first strip, 

 and pitch the subsoil into the last square in the first strip. 



From the second square throw the loam into the last square in 

 the first strip, and throw the subsoil into the first square in the 

 second strip. 



The trenching of the first strip is now complete, and the second 

 strip is ready to be trenched, in squares, as the first strip was. 

 Proceed with the work until at the end of the strip we find that the 

 next to the last square has subsoil only, and the last square, to the 

 depth of two feet, has nothing at all. 



Into the last square pitch the pile of subsoil waiting from the 

 first row. 



Into both the last two squares pitch the pile of loam that is wait- 

 ing from the first strip. 



The pair of strips are now entirely trenched, and the earth, ex- 

 cept that from the first two squares, has been handled but once. 

 The subsoil has several layers of vegetable material which will 

 rot and enrich it. Other pairs of strips can now be trenched until 

 the work is finished. The surface will be rough, and can be left 

 so over winter, or smoothed for immediate planting. 



The work need not be done all at once, since it is laborious and 

 expensive. It took me some years, working as I had time and mate- 

 rial, to trench the whole of my garden. 



