PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. 59 



There can, of course, be no more difficulty in find- 

 ing room for it there than there would be in obtain- 

 ing a place for it in the rear. Then dig down the 

 bank b, and with it fill the trench a. b is now a 

 trench which may be filled from c ; c may be filled 

 from D ; d from e ; e from f ; and the filling of f 

 with the soil which was at first thrown out of a, will 

 make all even. The wheeling of the soil, which is no 

 inconsiderable item, is thus saved. It is evident, 

 however, that this plan is adapted only to small, or 

 at least narrow plots. 



All the foregoing operations prove most beneficial 

 when performed in the fall. At that time the soil 

 should not be finely pulverized, but left in as rough 

 a state as possible so as to expose it thoroughly to the 

 action of the winter's frost and snow. It should be 

 also well mixed with a good dressing of well decom- 

 posed stable manure, and any of those matters men- 

 tioned in Chapter XL 



By these means, the ground will be thoroughly 

 enriched by spring, and will not consist of eartn 

 mixed with fermenting masses of manure, than which 

 nothing can be more injurious to young plants. In 

 the following spring the land should be raked or har- 

 rowed, so as to obtain a level surface of finely pulver- 

 ized soil, and if it should be lightly forked over it 

 would be none the worse for it. 



