Preparation of the Ground 



CHAPTER III. 



PREPARATION OF THE GROUND. 



AFTER the house-site has been selected and the outlines 

 of the drive and walks have been staked, the next opera- 

 tion should be grading and preparing the ground for 

 planting. When grading or levelling, it is necessary to remember 

 to always keep the good or surface soil at the top and not to bury 

 it as is too often done by contractors. 



When the ground is graded and shaped to the lines as 

 planned, it should then be plowed or trenched. Where the 

 grounds are large, use the ordinary plow followed by the subsoil- 

 plow; stir the subsoil, if possible, twenty- four inches deep. 

 After plowing, follow with a heavy harrow, selecting dry 

 weather and only when the soil is reasonably dry and not wet 

 enough to stick to the shoes or clog the harrow-teeth ; then cross- 

 plow and reharrow. 



Should the ground be too small for plowing, trenching with 

 the spade must be resorted to ; and here again it is important to 

 bear in mind to keep the top soil for the upper layer. 



Trenching should be done by first removing, at one end of the 

 ground, the top soil, to the depth of one foot, from a strip (three 

 feet wide) across the entire width of the ground, and wheeling 

 that top soil to the opposite end of the ground which is being 

 trenched. Then, with a heavy pick, stir the subsoil to an addi- 

 tional foot in depth, leaving the loosened subsoil in its original 

 place. On top of the loosened subsoil spread a layer of manure 

 about four inches deep. Measure from the line of the first trench, 

 with a yardstick, three feet at each end of the trench, (that is, at 

 each side of the ground), and place stakes, to which stakes attach 



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