SOIL MANAGEMENT. 13 



tions, and means taken to conserve and encourage 

 this soil population ; promote the activity of the 

 various bacterial processes, and the increased pro- 

 duction in the soil of available plant foods. In this 

 connection one thing to avoid is burying the rich 

 fertile soil in trenches and bringing to the top a 

 comparatively poor, lifeless soil to take its place. 



Digging Soils. It would be difficult to over- 

 estimate the beneficial effects of deep, thorough culti- 

 vation, and laying the soil up roughly in winter to 

 the action of frost and other weathering influences. 

 Deep digging, and periodical double digging, should 

 be the method of cultivating all vegetable ground, 

 and on larger areas where ploughing is practised the 

 subsoil plough should be freely used. At all times 

 avoid working a heavy clay soil when it is in a very 

 wet condition. Generally, stiff clay soils are better 

 dug in late autumn or early winter, and sandy soils 

 of a porous nature in early spring. 



Digging consists of turning over the soil one spade 

 deep, equal to 1 foot in depth. The area to be dug 

 should first be divided into two or more sections 

 of an even number, working along one half, or sec- 

 tion, and back on the other. This method obviates 

 the wheeling of soil from one end of the area to the 

 other, which would be a waste of time and labour. 

 The proper course is to open a trench 1 foot wide 

 and a full spade deep across the end of the first half 

 or section of the area as shown in Fig. 1. The soil 

 removed from the first trench at 1 is placed in a 

 heap across the corresponding end of the second half 

 at 2 ; next dig along the first half to the other end 

 (1 to 3), and fill the open trench there with soil from 



