30 GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH. 



manure dug in at that time. At the top it should be well 

 manured with well-rotted dung, charcoal dust, ashes, or 

 other good manure, dug in shallow, taking care to level 

 the ground while trenching, so as to prevent washing. 

 Another good coat of compost should be added just be- 

 fore planting in the spring. 



Subsoil plowing. is much cheaper and answers a very 

 good purpose when the spot to be prepared is large. A 

 common turning plow goes first, and plows as deep a fur- 

 row as practicable. It is followed by the subsoil plow in 

 the same furrow, which should loosen the soil, without turn- 

 ing it up, to the depth of eighteen or twenty inches, unless 

 it is a stiff clay or gravel. 



CHAPTER IV. 



MANURES. 



Anything which, by being added to the soil directly or 

 indirectly, promotes the growth of plants, may be consid- 

 ered a manure. Strictly speaking, manures are the arti- 

 ficial food supplied to plants. Those substances, that, when 

 added to the soil, promote plant-growth more by changing 

 its texture, correcting its acidity, and otherwise modifying 

 its condition than by the nourishment they directly afford 

 to plants, we shall, borrowing a French term, call amend- 

 ments. Such are sand, coal ashes, lime, clay, marl, old 

 plaster, etc., when applied to soils that need them. Many 

 of these substances, like marl, lime, rubbish, rotten chips, 

 broken charcoal, etc., act both as manures and amend- 

 ments. 



Manures may be classified into organic, inorganic, and 



