FORMATION OF THE FRUIT AND KITCHEN GARDEN. 



29 



principles, and to detail the modes, of making 

 fruit-tree borders according to different circum- 

 stances of soil, subsoil, and climate. Where 

 all these are favourable, proper trenching and 

 levelling are only necessary. If the subsoil is 

 bad, or cold and wet, its contact with the roots 

 should be cut off by an impervious and some- 

 what elevated floor of concrete; if the soil is 

 indifferent, it should be ameliorated as much 

 as possible; if bad, it should be entirely re- 

 moved, and a better soil substituted. Where 

 the climate is at fault, it is advisable to use 

 rather light soil, mixed with stones and other 

 hard substances. There are, however, without 

 doubt, very many cases where borders could 

 not, on account of expense, be made so effectu- 

 ally as we have recommended. In these cases 

 the borders should not be deeply trenched, if 

 by so doing the principal roots would be en- 

 couraged to occupy a position unfavourable 

 to the health of the trees. It will be better 

 to depend on keeping the roots near the surface, 

 and there feeding them by means of a well- 

 prepared compost of dung, and the most suit- 

 able kinds of soil that can be obtained. 



Preparation of the Ground. 



The formation of the borders having been 

 completed, the preparation of the rest of the 

 ground may be proceeded with. Where the 

 surface is level, or of the proper slope, and the 

 soil naturally good and of the sufficient depth, 

 merely trenching it over in the usual way 

 renders it fit for laying out and cropping. 

 Where the ground is, on the contrary, irregular, 

 and the undulations of the subsoil, not corre- 

 sponding with those of the surface, render the 

 soil of unequal depth — or where soil has to be 

 wheeled or carted from one part of the ground 

 to another, or introduced from the outside — 

 the operations become complicated, and various 

 preliminary considerations are necessary in 

 order that the work may be commenced at the 

 proper place, carried on with regularity, and in 

 the best and most economical way. 



It is presumed that the level of the ground 

 has been previously determined, as recommended 

 in the section on levelling, and that the depth 

 of soil has been ascertained. By digging down 

 to the subsoil at a number of points, adding 

 together the depths, and dividing by their 

 number, the mean depth of the soil will be 

 found. At the same time, the depth at which 

 the subsoil lies below the proposed surface level, 

 at the different points, should be marked on a 



plan. By these means we come to the know- 

 ledge of the present position of the subsoil, and 

 also that which it should be made to occupy. 



If the surface is to be made level, and if 

 the soil is to be of uniform depth, then the 

 substratum must also be made level, or prefer- 

 ably with a slight declivity towards drainage. 

 If the surface is intended to have a regular 

 slope, the substratum ought to have a corre- 

 sponding one. In either case it is evident that 

 attention should be first directed to the level- 

 ling of the bottom. When a trench is turned 

 out to the depth of all the good soil, its bottom 

 most probably will be very irregular; portions 

 of it may be too high or too low, which should 

 be rectified before the soil of the next trench 

 is moved. The work should be commenced in 

 the lowest part of the ground, taking care, 

 however, to leave roadways for carting materials 

 if necessary. 



In trenching level ground the ordinary trench, 

 about 3 feet wide, will be found most convenient; 

 dividing the ground into convenient portions, 



a a af h 



~ 1 ~' i S 



Fig. 827. 



as represented by a b c d, fig. 827. It is better 

 to divide the ground into two sections, as shown 

 by line e /. Then dig a trench from b to /, and 

 lay the soil on the adjacent half, from / to d. 

 When the operation reaches a e, the open trench 

 is to be filled by the soil taken from e to c, the 

 last trench at } d being filled by the soil placed 

 there from the first trench b f. Where the 

 ground is very uneven, and where the bottom 

 has to be raised or lowered to a considerable 

 extent, the width of the trenches may be 4, 5, 

 or even 6 feet. 



Hitherto we have chiefly directed attention 

 to bringing the substratum to the proper level, 

 and when this is done, the good soil will require 

 to be made of uniform depth by removing 



