110 



sea beach if at hand, especially if containing plenty of 

 shells : any, or all, of these blended with the ditch- 

 sourings would be found excellent materials for the 

 case in hand. Plenty of manure also should be pro- 

 vided, and kept in two portions : the one containing 

 old and rotten manure, and the other fresh and raw 

 manure, or fresh manure and leaves blended. Equal 

 portions of the above material and of the soil should 

 be filled in when thoroughly dry, taking care to keep 

 the raw manure at the bottom, and to introduce it of 

 a rottener character progressively upwards. A little 

 salt may be sprinkled with the v/hole mass in the 

 course of filling in. 



One thing we would here observe, and that is, that 

 where strong soils are shallow, and if a stubborn and 

 impervious subsoil exists beneath them, it would not 

 be advisable to excavate, or, at least, to carry the 

 depth of prepared soil below the heart of the subsoil. 

 This we have often known done, and is, on the whole, 

 a very doubtful proceeding, for excellent indeed must 

 be the drainage which can keep a bottom of this sort 

 free from stagnant water. AVe w^ould rather carry the 

 bed much above the ground level. The only fault of 

 this latter proceeding w^ould be this, that the beds 

 would at times, during extreme hot weather, be too 

 dry ; this, however, might be easily remedied by 

 summer mulching and occasional watering. 



That part of the garden which is longest exposed 



