88 



MANUAL OF GARDENING 



the closing season. These are the months when I work 

 hardest and when I am nearest the soil. To feel the thrust of 

 the spade, to smell the sweet earth, to prepare for the young 

 plants and then to prepare for the closing year, to handle the 

 tools with discrimination, to guard against frost, to be close 

 with the rain and wind, to see the young things start into life 

 and then to see them go down into winter, — these are some of 

 the best of the joys of gardening. In this spirit we should take 

 up the work of handling the land. 



The draining of the land. 



The first step in the preparation of land, after it has been 

 thoroughly cleared and subdued of forest or previous vegetation, 

 is to attend to the drainage. All land that 

 i& springy, low, and "sour," or that holds 

 the water in puddles for a day or two fol- 

 lowing heavy rains, should be thoroughly 

 underdrained. Draining also improves 

 the physical condition of the soil even 

 when the land does not need the removal 

 of superfluous water. In hard lands, it 

 lowers the water-table, or tends to loosen 

 and aerate the soil to a greater depth, 

 and thereby enables it to hold more water 

 without injury to plants. Drainage is 

 particularly useful in dry but hard garden 

 lands, because these lands are often in sod or permanently 

 planted, and the soil cannot be broken up by deep tillage. 

 Tile drainage is permanent subsoiling. 



Hard-baked cylindrical tiles make the best and most per- 

 manent drains. The ditches usually should not be less than 

 two and one-half feet deep, and three or three and one-half 

 feet is often better. In most garden areas, drains may be 

 laid with profit as often as every thirty feet. Give all drains 



79. Ditching tools. 



