26 FRUIT AND KITCHEN GARDEN. 



trees, which are equally productive, and far more ele- 

 gant in their appearance. 



Soil. — It is of great importance that the ground 

 selected for a garden should be naturally of a good 

 quality. A hazel-colored loam, of a light or sandy 

 texture, is well adapted for most crops, whether of 

 fruits or culinary vegetables. Porosity is indispensable, 

 not only for- the transmission of moisture, but of air, to 

 the roots of plants. As it is more easy to render a 

 light soil sufficiently retentive than to make a tena- 

 cious clay sufficiently porous, a light soil is preferable 

 to one which is excessively stiff and heavy. It is ad- 

 vantageous to possess a variety of soils ; and if the 

 garden be on a slope", it will often be practicable to 

 render the upper part . light and dry, while the lower 

 remains of a heavier and damper nature. The soil 

 should be good to the depth of two feet, and any neces- 

 sary additional deepening by manures or otherwise 

 should not be neglected. The nature of the subsoil 

 demands particular attention. If it be strongly im- 

 pregnated with metallic substances, or composed of 

 cold wet clay, it will prove pernicious to the roots of 

 fruit-trees, and will scarcely admit of a remedy. A 

 decomposing rock, or a bed of sandy is preferable. 

 Perhaps the best of all is a dry bed of clay, overlaying 

 sandstone, which crops gut within the general inclosure. 

 If the inferior strata be retentive, and if water lodge in 

 any part of the garden, draining should be carefully 

 executed, so as to carry off the superfluous moisture. 



Preparatory to the distribution of the several parts 

 of a garden, it is proper that the ground be trenched to 

 the depth of two feet at least; but the deeper the better. 

 In this operation all stones larger than a man's fist are 



