26 GARDENING FoR ALL. 
plough be used, plough deeply and let the sub-soiler follow 
the plough to break the “ pan,” and the water will pass freely 
downward and air will follow, thus rendering more food 
available and the conditions of growth more congenial to 
the crops. 
’ Digging must be done thoroughly. No slipshod work, if 
you please! And yet, alas! How few dig properly or make 
a right beginning! We see a man take the remnant of a 
spade, insert it at a great slope into the soil, and just push 
the soil forward with it; he does not even turn it over! And 
that man digs (save the mark!) his plot of garden; perhaps 
manages to half conceal a small quantity of manure; plants 
his trees and sows his garden seeds, and then considers 
himself an unlucky man because his gardening does not turn 
out a success! Does such a gardener deserve success? Can 
he reasonably expect it? I think not. 
In order to dig properly we must make a right beginning. 
We do that by digging out one spit of soil at the lowest end 
of the plot to be dug—if the ground is not level—and place 
the soil where we propose leaving off. There are two ways 
of digging a plot of ground, one by digging right across the 
plot backwards and forwards until the whole is completed ; 
the other is by marking off one half the width of the plot, 
digging down that, and returning up the other half and 
finishing at the end near where we commenced. The latter 
method has its advantages, such as saving the necessity of 
moving all the soil trom the opening trench to the other end 
of the plot, and by rendering the task less discouraging when 
we undertake a half the width of the plot at once instead of 
the whole. 
Having opened the first trench and placed in it any 
manure or rubbish that is to be applied, take the spade— 
which should be clean, and neither too large or too small—- 
and insert it in the soil nearly perpendicularly, drive it in to 
its full depth by means of the foot, press the handle down- 
wards, lift the spade and soil bodily forward, turn the spade 
and soil over by a sharp turn of the wrist, and deposit the 
soil in its right place in front. Most soils are improved by 
being left rough when first dug, especially in autumn, winter, 
and early spring, when frost and snow can act upon the 
lumps of soil and pulverise them far better than man can do. 
LP 
