Gardening for Amateurs 



519 



Cut trenches about 30 inches deep during 

 the winter and in such a direction that a 

 good slope or fall is given to the ditch. Make 

 the bottom level, and lay ordinary field 

 tiles of 4 or 5 inches diameter on this, care- 

 fully wedged in line with stones ; on top 

 of the tiles drop all stones, large ash clinkers, 

 and rubbish, then fill in soil, allowing for 

 shrinkage before spring. Don't beat the 

 soil down firm, the rain will soon make it 

 solid enough. Carry out the operation 

 carefully and efficiently, for bad drains are 

 no improvement. The distance apart of 



variation in depth that the tiles lie on a 

 slope. 



In order to make soil fertile it must be 

 worked or tilled. There is no royal road to 

 this desideratum, and it can only be done 

 by digging or trenching of the soil, aided, as 

 far as possible, by the natural agents we 

 mentioned. 



Digging. Digging is understood by every- 

 one. The soil is simply turned over by 

 means of a spade and broken up, the depth 

 being determined by the size of the spade 

 blade, i.e. one spit deep. To carry out 



Fig. 1. Showing the first stage in 

 the work of trenching two spits 

 deep. The soil at A, one spit 

 deep and 2 feet wide, is dug out 

 and placed at the opposite end 

 of the plot. The soil at B is 

 similarly removed and the subsoil 

 turned over with a garden fork. 



Fig. 2. The second stage of trenching 

 two spits deep. The soil C in Fig. 1 

 is turned into trench B, and the soil 

 D in Fig. 1 is placed on top of this 

 as shown in Fig. 2. This process is 

 repeated until the last trench is 

 reached when the soil first removed 

 is filled in. 



drains varies from 15 feet in very heavy to 

 25 feet in lighter soil ; the depth should sel- 

 dom exceed 30 inches. See that every outlet 

 is protected by a grating, because animals 

 may go up the drain in dry weather, choke 

 the pipe, and so spoil all the work. Where 

 large areas are being treated the smaller 

 drains are led into a main drain, which car- 

 ries the water to some well or convenient 

 ditch. The various methods of draining 

 a garden are shown on page 111, but the 

 form varies with the slope of the land. 

 Drains laid on a dead level are almost use- 

 less, therefore when the garden is a flat one 

 the trench must be dug out with such a 



the digging of a plot thoroughly a trench 

 should be opened along one side and the 

 earth of this laid aside, preferably at the 

 opposite end or placed in a barrow. Soil is 

 now dug along the side of this trench, and 

 used to fill it up, leaving in place a new 

 trench close to where the first one was made. 

 The process is continued until the opposite 

 side of the border is reached, and the trench 

 which will of necessity be left there is filled 

 with the soil laid aside at the start. Such 

 a method keeps the ground level and even/ 

 Heavy soils are best dug in autumn or 

 winter, sandy soils in late spring ; for, in 

 the latter case, early digging tends to rob 



