IMPROVING THE SOIL 65 



Plot number two is then dtig in the same way as number one, until the 

 top is reached. And here the soil taken out when the work was begun 

 is used to fill the last furrow. 



If the work is properly done, the surface, although perhaps cloddy, 

 will be fairly even and be without hills and hollows. Before proceeding 

 to dig each line or row, all weeds on the surface, and also manure, if 

 any, should be turned into the bottom of the open furrow, after which 

 the soil is placed upon it or them. The surface may be left as turned 

 over, with the exception of any particularly big clods which are easily 

 reduced with a slap of the spade or fork. If the surface is thus left 

 rough for the action of the winter frosts and rains the clods will 

 gradually fall asunder and by the spring the surface will be in a 

 beautifully mellow condition, requiring only shghtly forking over 

 more for the sake of appearance perhaps than anything else. 



Double digging^. — As the name indicates, this means digging the 

 soil two spits deep. The first spit is taken out in the usual way 

 described above, but the subsoil is simply dug and inverted without 

 being removed from its original position. This is an excellent practice 

 where the subsoil happens to be rather poor. It also opens the soil 

 better and allows the water to drain away more readily from the roots 

 of the plants. And while it is better than ordinary digging it is not 

 nearly so hard as trenching. 



Ridging up. — -This operation is performed by digging in a straight 

 line and putting the soil from the furrow up on the left or right to form 

 a ridge. The base of the ridge may be two spits wide and may have a 

 spadeful of soil from a furrow on each side placed on top of it. Or it 

 need only be one spit or spade wide, so that there shall be twice as many 

 ridges and furrows, thus exposing more soil to the action of the 

 weather. If the ridge on which the soil is placed has been dug before- 

 hand it will be all the better. Ground thus treated may be left during 

 the winter months to become mellowed and fertilised for spring 

 cropping. 



A modification of ridging is to turn up a spit and invert it in the 

 same place. Then on top of this place the next spit, leaving a 

 corresponding hollow. The ground treated in this way will be a series 

 of little hillocks and hollows. 



In the spring time, before planting, the ridges are forked down and 

 made level, and it will be found that the texture of the soil has been 

 wonderfully improved by the treatment. 



Trenching. — This is a much more serious operation than digging, 

 and is also far harder work. Consequently it is not done more often 

 than is absolutely necessary. The work is usually performed at the 



