AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 509 



in II, and d in t. We now have d^ v and h vacant, and can con- 

 tinue the process by stirring c, putting e in h, and g in v^ kc. 



True and bastard trenching may be combined in three spits deep, 

 thus: Eemove t and w, loosen c, put v in «, and h in if; then 

 loosen c, and put rf in &, e in t', loosen/, and so on. 



The process is very simple, is readily performed by the most 

 unskillful workman after a little showing, and it is an effectual 

 method of treating all garden soils. What sub-soiling is to the 

 field, trenching is to the garden, only that the latter is more 

 thorough and effectual, and gives an opportunity of applying 

 manures to any part, either of the surface or subsoil. 



Few who have not tried it have any adequate idea of the pro- 

 ductiveness and value of a soil thoroughly trenched. Such beets, 

 and currants and parsnips as will grow upon a soil thoroughly 

 worked and manured two to three feet deep, must be seen to be 

 appreciated; and the same may be said of all other vegetables, 

 although they be not usually ranked as deep-rooted. 



Give the roots of any jjlant a cliance to grow downward, and 

 they will go where they will always find moisture, no matter how 

 hot or how long the sun may shine upon and parch a few inches 

 of the surface. 



The Secretary indorsed the value of the statement just made 

 by Mr. Judd. He spoke of a spot in the west of England where 

 the whole soil, not of a garden, but of farm lands, had profitably 

 been inverted from a depth of five feet. 



Mr. Waring referred to the practice of trenching as being uni- 

 versally practised in the vineyards around Cincinnati. 



Mr. Robinson thought that though little might be known of 

 the mcf7i7ier of trenching, the advantages were still less understood. 

 No garden should be planted that had not been first well trenched. 

 Such gardens will always pay the cost. It would be wise to try 

 to wake up the public to the value of this process, even at the 

 cost of ^300 per acre. Vineyards in this country cannot be cul- 

 tivated except upon trenched land. 



Mr. Olcott (hought it a very important matter that farmers 

 should use good tools, and not leave them out all winter lying 

 in fence corners. He advocated the use of carrots as feed for 

 working animals, and deprecated the practice of not giving 

 horses full feed upon off days from their usual work. 



Mr. Judd — The first principle is to have a soil sufficiently pul- 

 verized for the useof idants. The best manure for sandy land 

 is clay. Iron in soils is poisonous to nearly all plants. Deep 



