24 AMERICAN HOME GARDEN. 



that it may be ready to fill up the last trench at the completion 

 of the job, the earth that comes from the bottom layer or layers 

 being dumped in a separate ridge, a little beyond that taken 

 from the surface, so that the latter may be conveniently put first 

 into the bottom of the last trench. 



If the depth proposed be eighteen inches, let the spade be 

 driven full ten inches deep in taking off the first layer ; then, 

 with a good sharp shovel, let the " crumbs" or loose earth be 

 taken out, cutting the bottom a little as you go, which will 

 deepen the trench another inch ; then dig another spade-length 

 deep, and the work is done. 



If, however, the subsoil is so hard that the second layer can 

 not be dug out with the spade, the pick and shovel must be 

 used, and if the necessary depth can not be attained by one op- 

 eration with these implements, it must be repeated. 



Having this first trench completed, another equal space is 

 marked off, and another, and another, to the end, the earth from 

 each being regularly turned over into the excavation that pre- 

 ceded it, by a precise repetition of the process of digging and 

 shoveling above described, the surface-earth being thrown into 

 the bottom of the trench, and the lower stratum on the top of 

 it, with some care to keep the side of the loose earth laid up 

 square, and the top of the new layer nearly level, until you 

 come to that which was carted back, which fills up and finishes 

 the whole. 



By this operation the body of earth is more completely turned 

 upside down than is possible in plowing ; and in the process 

 stones can be thoroughly gathered out, and any desired quan- 

 tity of manure may be mixed in by spreading it upon the suc- 

 cessive layers after they are turned into the trench. If the 

 soil is really poor, this should not, on any account, be neglected. 



DIGGING. 



In certain circumstances we must resort to digging instead 

 of plowing, and in the garden, particularly, it is almost exclu- 

 sively used in the preparation of the ground, or in working be- 

 tween certain crops in wide rows. It is performed with the 

 spade (Fig. 37, p. 48), or a strong fork made for the purpose, and 



