IMPROVING HEAVY LAND 7 



from it by growing crops. Continually to cultivate 

 vegetables upon any soil, and to neglect to manure the 

 latter, would result in bringing about a greatly im- 

 poverished garden. 



No operations help the cultivator of vegetables 

 more than digging and trenching. Trenching in- 

 volves much time and labour, but must be done if 

 the garden is to be well maintained. It is not neces- 

 sary to do much of this work at once if a certain 

 part be regularly trenched every year, and this is the 

 practice that should be followed. The gardener will 

 have no difficulty in knowing which portion of the 

 grounds to deal with, for the disposition of the crops 

 will govern this. The great value of trenching is that 

 it exposes fresh soil to the ameliorating influences of 

 the rain and atmosphere, brings fresh material to the 

 roots of plants, and gives a rest to the remainder of 

 the soil. Trenching is performed as follows : The 

 land to be trenched should be equally divided along 

 its greatest length by a line or by a mark made in 

 the soil. Then at one end of one half the ground 

 remove the soil to the depth of either two feet or 

 three feet, and place it near the same end of the other 

 half. This will be clearly explained by the illustra- 

 tion on page 8. 



If the land has never been trenched before re- 

 move the soil two feet deep only, and then well dig 

 the bottom thirteen inches deep, thoroughly turning 

 it over instead of removing it altogether. When 

 the land has been trenched previously, then begin by 



