FORMATION OF THE FRUIT AND KITCHEN GARDEN. 



L7 



Another useful instrument can always be 

 found in an ordinary plummet level, as used by 

 builders, and the levels can be carried on with 

 it, from rod to rod, correctly enough, if proper 

 care be taken, although not nearly so expedi- 

 tiously nor so accurately as by Dumpy's Level. 

 But it is better that some time should be 

 occupied, even by this tedious process with 

 a plummet level, than to commence operations 

 at random, judging merely by the eye; for 

 this, where the ground is very irregular, often 

 proves very deceptive. 



Workmen may be set to lower the parts 

 that are too high, and to make up those that 

 are too low; but in doing this they cannot 

 know how much the one part should be taken 

 down, or how much the other should be raised. 

 They may, however, contrive to bring a height 

 and its adjoining hollow to a tolerably fair 

 level; by successive lowerings the height is at 

 last reduced, and a uniform surface appears 

 instead of the original height and hollow. 

 After due pains have been taken to smooth 

 this portion, the next height and hollow can 

 be treated in a similar manner; but when this 

 is done, in all probability the two portions thus 

 levelled will not agree; means 

 must therefore be employed to 

 make them do so. The care- 

 fully smoothed surface of the 

 highest portion must be broken 

 up; third and fourth portions 

 can then be brought to a level 

 with the two first; still it may be questionable I ficial draining will be required. It is generally 

 whether all may not have to be altered, in order not difficult to decide at any time in the case 



Figs. 801 and 802 show how slopes or un- 

 dulating ground may be treated so as to render 

 them most suitable for the cultivation of fruit 

 and vegetables. 



Draining. 



We have treated at considerable length on 

 the subject of levelling, because its importance, 

 in many garden operations, renders a know- 

 ledge of it very desirable. We may now 

 proceed with draining, an operation which 

 should precede that of trenching and other 

 ground work, but which ought not to be com- 

 menced until the level of the ground has been 

 determined. 



The beneficial effects of draining have been 

 noticed under the improvement of soils, and 

 matters more immediately connected with its 

 practical application have now to be considered. 



The necessity of draining is naturally the 

 first question, for it would only be a waste of 

 money to drain a garden that is either natur- 

 ally too dry, or one that, on examination, is 

 found to possess no superfluous moisture. 

 Where the strata are of the character and 

 arrangement shown in fig. 800 little or no arti- 



Fig. 800. 



to agree with the remaining portions of the 

 ground. This is as likely as not, for it is all 

 chance work. 



One cannot set to work by chance with much 

 confidence; he is always in danger of going too 

 deep or too shallow, and of having to undo 

 what he has done. He cannot tell, in fact, 

 when or at what cost the work will be accom- 

 plished. It is very different when levels have 

 been taken; the workman, in taking down a 

 portion that is too high, knows by the marks 

 on the adjoining rods how deep to go in lower- 

 ing, and how high in making up, and he can 

 then work freely, without hesitation or fear 

 of going wrong. If ground be only worked 

 roughly to the level marks in the first in- 

 stance, still it will be found that a digging will 

 render the whole surface perfectly satisfactory. 

 Without knowing how to level, neither drain- 

 ing, trenching, nor other ground work can be well, 

 and at the same time economically, performed. 

 vol. n . 



of ground being too dry. Occasionally, how- 

 ever, the soil may be of a dry, open nature, 

 and yet prove in certain seasons too wet below 

 for the roots of fruit-trees. In this case the 

 subsoil is usually of a very impervious nature, 

 and lower than the high -water level of the 

 channel which receives the drainage of the 

 garden and its vicinity. The height to which 

 the water rises in the channels after heavy 

 rains can be ascertained either from actual ob- 

 servation or from the water-worn marks; and 

 by taking the level from these to the garden, 

 the height to which the temporary stagnant 

 water will rise can be known. If the water 

 only rises too high occasionally after heavy 

 rains — if the rise is the exception and not the 

 rule — the trees may thrive very well. But if 

 it stands too high for a considerable part of 

 the year, then it ought to be drained, if pos- 

 sible. 



The site of a garden may be perfectly level, 



43 



