BORDERS OR PREPARED BEDS. 55 



allotted portion of work, to supply the structure of the 

 plant with wholesome food. Effectual drainage has not 

 until lately received that share of attention among culti- 

 vators generally which its benefits ought to command, and 

 even at the present day, there is a great want of proper 

 understanding respecting it. To a person who is contented 

 to go along scratching over the ground, sowing seed, and 

 leaving the rest to Nature, it is a difficult problem to 

 solve, how the conducting away water in land that is 

 already too dry and hard in summer can be of any ser- 

 vice. Thanks to science and agricultural chemistry, this 

 is noAv made so clear, by having been so often explained, 

 with examples here and there as proofs, that the mystery 

 is, how men can still remain so blind to their own interests, 

 or entertain any prejudice against what has been so prac- 

 tically demonstrated. 



Although it is recommended above to make the whole 

 of the borders at once, which is only one trouble and ex- 

 pense, and will answer very well ; yet it is much better 

 to prepare the drainage as advised, and make only half, 

 viz. : that part next to the house, of properly prepared 

 compost, filling in the other with the intended base soil 

 a little enriched, and after the first season's growth, work 

 up in the following fall, into the half of the unfinished 

 portion, the same quantity of fertilizing materials as the 

 former half was mixed with. In the spring, before grow- 

 ing commences, this may be again forked over, which will 

 incorporate all more evenly, and the next fall the remain- 

 ing quarter may be done likewise. By this method the 

 borders are kept loose for a longer time, the air is more 

 freely admitted, and the whole is better adapted for the 

 healthy progress of the roots, which, as they extend from 

 year to year, will penetrate more readily, and fill every 

 portion. The tendency to become solid, is much reduced 



