LECT.il THE SOIL 35 



the engraving, Fig. 3. First take out a trench a foot 

 wide and deep across the end (1) and place the 

 soil along the edge of the opposite half (2), then dig 

 to the other end (1 to 3), filling the open trench 

 there with soil from across the end (4), working back- 

 wards, and completing the work by filling the last 

 trench with the soil first removed (2). Some good 

 workers break up the bottom of each trench with 

 the fork before it is filled in with the next section 

 turned over ; the practice is generally commendable, 

 and often highly advantageous. 



Trenching means moving the whole of the soil to 

 the depth of two feet or more : but if this had not 

 been done before, the subsoil having remained un- 

 moved, it may be for generations, it would be most 

 unwise to bring it from its position and place the 

 top soil at the bottom of each trench. That is the 

 common practice of untaught or inexperienced workers 

 on the land, who have often worse than wasted their 

 labour. No crops can grow in a foot in thickness 

 of sour subsoil which is made to form the surface soil 

 by the erroneous practice indicated. 



The right process is shown in Figure 4, page 36. 

 Al A2 a plan of the piece of ground to be trenched. 

 Stretch a line from 1 to 2 and make a nick along 

 the surface with the spade, dividing the space into 

 halves. Then remove the soil two spades wide and 

 one spade deep at 3 and 4 from B to C, placing it in a 

 heap D. Next remove the subsoil 5 which was under 

 3, placing it in a heap E, and Al will be ready for 

 trenching as follows : 



Dig the lower subsoil 6 a spit deep and leave it at 

 the bottom, then turn over the upper subsoil 7 upon 

 6, next dig the lower subsoil 8, then turn over the 

 surface soil 9 upon the subsoil 5. Repeat the process 

 till the end of Al is reached at F, and there will be 



