BASEMENT STORY. 93 
When the drains are completed, the soil should 
be thoroughly plowed and sub-soiled. It is said 
that the latter operation is a master key to under- 
draining, and there is no doubt, in my mind, of 
the truth of it. The usual method is: first, sur- 
face plow, following in the bottom of the furrow 
with a sub-soil plow, drawn by one or two pairs 
of oxen or horses. The former are considered 
best, if the ground is very hard or stony. To 
make the operation very thorough, the field 
should have the same treatment crosswise, and by 
this the whole of the sub-soil will be loosened, so 
that rain and dew can easily percolate to a great 
depth. As a matter of course, this method will, 
with the addition of some fertilizer, render the 
“basement story of the farm” congenial to the roots 
of growing trees. In the garden, the manipulation 
of the surface and sub-soil will have to be done with 
the digging fork and spade, but the space of ground 
sufficient to supply a family with fruit, is so small, 
that the expense of disturbing it to the depth of 
fourteen to eighteen inches will be only a trifle, con- 
sidering the influence it will have on the growth 
and vigor of the tree. 
A neighbor, who has had considerable experience 
im draining, instead of tiles, makes use of common 
hemlock boards, six inches wide, nailed together in 
