TRENCHING 



The trenching of a piece of ground intended for the 

 cultivation of fruit, vegetables, or flowers often doubles 

 its value. All garden soil should be trenched at least 

 once every three or four years. Where there is a fair 

 depth of soil the process is carried out as follows : — The 

 plot of ground intended to be dealt with is mapped out, 

 and at one end of it the soil one spade deep and two 

 spits wide is removed and wheeled to the opposite end 

 of the patch. Next the subjacent soil to a depth of a 

 further spit, and one spit only in width, is removed and 

 also wheeled to the far end of the patch, where it is 

 kept in a separate heap. We now have an end trench 

 one spit wide and two spits deep, and a penultimate or 

 end-but-one trench one spit wide and one spit deep. 

 Standing in the trench, the bottom of the end trench is 

 to be broken up by means of a spade, fork, or mattock 

 to a further spade-depth, and left in situ. On this 

 should be placed a layer of manure. Next a spade 

 depth of soil from the penultimate trench should be 

 thrown on the manure in the end trench. On this 

 another layer of manure should be placed, and on this 

 should be laid a spade depth of top soil from what will 

 form the third trench. The end trench is now complete, 

 the second trench is two spits deep, and the third trench 

 one spit deep. The bottom of the second trench is to 

 be broken up, as in the case of the end trench, followed 

 by a layer of manure, a spade deep of middle spit from 

 the third trench, another layer of manure, and a spade 

 deep of top spit from the fourth trench. This process 



