TRENCHING 



The loam of our gardens, except in very fortunate districts, is 

 seldom more than a foot deep. Trenching is a method of deepen- 

 ing it by so enriching the subsoil that it turns to loam. 



For this purpose we need to have at hand plenty of material for 

 the purpose ; that is, anything which in the course of a year or two 

 will rot thoroughly. Manure is the best, but any vegetable matter, 

 hay, cornstalks, weeds, the tops of our garden plants, no matter 

 how coarse, is suitable for the purpose. 



For a small patch or bed, the best method is to throw off all the 

 loam, and spade the material into the subsoil, throwing the loam 

 back again. 



For the vegetable garden or a large bed such a process is too 

 difficult, since the first foot of the ground would have to be moved 

 twice. The method in such a case is as follows : 



Imagine the garden cut into pairs of strips, each strip three or 

 four feet wide. Imagine the strips, again, cut into squares of three 

 or four feet. Then dig them as follows, beginning at one end of 

 the first strip. 



From the first two squares throw off the loam, and pile it at the 

 end, near by. 



From the first square throw out a foot of subsoil, and pile it. 



From the second square throw the subsoil into the first square, 

 mixing in the enriching material in layers, first a layer of the mate- 

 rial, then one of subsoil, a few inches, then the material again, and 

 so on. Use the material as freely as possible ; the more you give, 

 the richer the soil will be. 1 



Now from the third square throw the loam to the first square, 

 and the subsoil to the second square. 



From the fourth square throw the loam to the second square, 

 and the subsoil to the third square. 



1 If, before you throw anything into each empty square, you spade some 

 of the material into the ground below, so much the better. 



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