522 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



digging or deep working of the soil. It is generally thought by amateur 

 gardeners or beginners sufficient to dig ground for garden purposes some 

 10 to 12 inches deep. Gardeners, however, know better, as experience 

 shows that ground double dug or trenched gives by far the best crop. 

 Trenching should be done during the winter when some garden ground 

 is vacant. To do this properly a trench 2 feet wide and i foot in 

 depth should be thrown out half-way across a plot of vacant ground. 

 Then the broken soil must be broken up another 12 inches deep with 

 a spade or fork, and left ; the top 1 2 inches of the next 2 feet trench- 

 ing being thrown on to that, and the bottom soil broken also. The 

 entire piece of ground should be thus treated. When ground has been 

 so served two or three times the bottom may be brought to the top, as 

 it is then fertile. 



Tubers consist of a mass of fleshy or starchy matter stored up by 

 plants in roots, or root tubers as they are called. These tubers increase 

 in size as the plant grows, and when the plant ceases to grow they 

 mature or ripen. They can then be lifted from the ground, be stored 

 in a dry place for the winter, and if in the spring placed in warmth 

 and damped, they send forth numerous shoots. These can be in part 

 cut off and inserted in sandy soil as cuttings, the rest remaining, and 

 the tubers being divided, each portion forms a separate plant. Dahlias 

 have tuberous roots all attached to one crown, Salvia patens the same ; 

 Begonias and Gloxinias have solid tuberous or fleshy roots. Potatoes 

 and Artichokes have starchy roots good as food, and for propagation 

 many wild plants have tubers, such as Buttercups, Orchids, &c. Many 

 Anemones and the florist's Ranunculus have tuberous roots also, gener- 

 ally differing in form only. 



Variety. This name is applied to flowers, fruits, and vegetables 

 that are neither species nor hybrid. Thus Senator and Dr. Maclean are 

 varieties of Peas, Snowdrop and Up-to-Date are varieties of Potatoes, 

 Ailsa Craig and Main Crop varieties of Onions, and so on. If a 

 collection of quite diverse flowers, fruits, or vegetables be arranged for 

 at a show the term "kinds" should always be used to show that two 

 or more varieties of the same thing cannot be staged. Many troubles 

 arise at shows because such wording is not used. 



