24 AMERICAN HOME GARDEN. 



tkat it may be ready to fill up the last trench at the completion 

 of the job, the eai'th that comes from the bottom layer or layers 

 being dumped in a separate ridge, a little beyond that taken 

 from the sm-face, so that the latter may be conveniently put fu'st 

 into the bottom of the last trench. 



If the depth proposed be eighteen inches, let the spade be 

 driven full ten inches deep in taking off the first layer ; then, 

 "with a good sharp shovel, let the " crumbs" or loose earth be 

 taken out, cutting the bottom a little as you go, -which -will 

 deepen the trench another inch ; then dig another spade-length 

 deep, and the Tvork is done. 



If, however, the subsoil is so hard that the second layer can 

 not he dug out with the spade, the pick and shovel must be 

 used, and if the necessary depth can not ]x attained by one op- 

 eration with these implements, it must be repeated. 



ILn'ing this first trench completed, another equal space is 

 marked off, and another, and another, to the end, the earth from 

 each being regularly tm-ned over into the excavation that pre- 

 ceded it, by a precise repetition of the process of digging and 

 shoveling above described, the sm-face-earth being thrown into 

 the bottom of the trench, and the lower stratum on the top of 

 it, with some cai'e to keep the side of the loose etuth laid up 

 scjuare, and the top of the new layer nearly level, mitil you 

 come to that which was carted back, which fills up and finishes 

 the whole. 



By this operation the body of eai'th is more completely tmiied 

 upside down than is possible in plowing ; and in the process 

 stones can be thoroughly gathered out, and any desired cpian- 

 tity of manure may be mixed in by spreading it upon the suc- 

 cessive layers after they are tui'ned into the trench. K the 

 soil is really poor, this should not, on any account, be neglected. 



DIGGING. 



In certain circumstances we must resort to digging instead 

 of plowing, and in the garden, particularly, it is almost exclu- 

 si^'ely used in the preparation of the ground, or in working be- 

 tween certain crops in wide rows. It is j^rformed with the 

 spade (Fig. '61, p. 48), or a strong fork made for the pm-pose, and 



