GROUND OPERATIONS. 



97 



on their surface. But vegetables should have a sur- 

 face tilth of from three to four feet when possible, 

 a^ this can be gradually and surely formed by 

 successive trenchings without lowering the fertility of 

 the 'sui'face during the process of adding to its mass, 

 to the consequent augmentation of its power. 



The best way of doing this is to practise trenching 

 as a mixing and deepening, rather than an inversive 

 process, and a thing to come into the regidar course 

 of cultivation at intervals of three or five years, 

 rather than to be done once for all for a whole 

 generation. 



Tools. — Having, it is hoped, made the object and 

 general principles of trenching sufficiently clear, an 

 attempt will now be made to teach the general 

 reader how to trench. The tools wanted for the 

 operation are a garden-line, a measuring-rod, a set of 

 stakes, a barrow, and a spade. 



Garden-lines are made of varied lengths and stout- 

 ness, and are wound on a reel at one end, and fur- 

 nished with an iron pin at the other. Handy lengths 

 range from ten to fifty, or even a hundred yards, 

 according to the size of the garden. In large 

 gardens, however, several sizes are used, and long 

 lines should never be employed when short ones will 

 suffice, as masses of cord, especially when wound round 

 a reel, are a long time drying. In all gardens, a 

 proper garden-line should be used, as nothing looks 

 more slovenly, or is in the end so wasteful, as the 

 use of two sticks for a garden- line. The lines should 

 be wound or unwound carefully, taking care not to 

 twist the strands in the process. The less garden- 

 lines are used in wet weather the better, and should 

 they get wet by any chance, they should at once 

 be promptly dried. When in use they should never 

 on any' account be left out at night, as the night 

 dews or a passing shower will so contract the line 

 as either to draw the pins or snap the line asunder, 

 or so strain it as to ruin its quality. 



Measuring -rods. — One or two should be found in 

 every garden. They are most convenient in lengths 

 of five or ten feet. The first is handy for short 



I i I I I I I I I 1 ! I I 



Fig. 7.— Measiiring-rod, 



measurements, and the second is as long as light 

 splints can well be made without warping. The 

 whole length should be marked in feet, half-feet, and 

 inches (Fig. 7). 



Stakes. — A set of about six or a dozen stakes are 

 also most useful for setting out ground for digging, 

 trenching, draining, and other purposes. Straight 

 deal stakes pointed at one end, and ranging in length 



from three feet to four, nicely made and painted, 

 will last a life-time, and are far more convenient and 

 workmanlike than the common bits of hazel or 

 other such light sticks so generally used, and often 

 not to be found when wanted. 



Barrows. — There are many different sorts, sizes, 

 and materials. Garden barrows should be light, 

 neat, and, relatively to others, small. Of course this 

 does not apply to grass and leaf barrows, which 

 cannot well be too large, but to those for earth and 

 manure. The sides should also be so much sloped 

 as to allow them to be emptied with ease. This is 

 a point that it is difficult to get carpenters to attend 

 to in the making of barrows, as the more the front 

 and sides are bevelled, the more difficult to makj. 

 Hence, and also through fancy and habit, the 

 majority of garden barrows have their sides and 

 front too straight, which makes them difficult to 

 empty ; soil and manure ha\'ing often to be removed 

 with fork or spade, to the loss of time and labour. 

 This becomes serious when repeated, as in moving 

 soil for short distances, which may happen several 

 himdreds of times in the day. There should also be 

 thi^ee or more clear inches between the wheel and 

 the front board of the gai'den barrow, to prevent its 

 getting clogged on wet soil. 



The Spade. — This is to ' horticulture what the 

 plough is to agriculture, by far the most impor- 

 tant implement in the garden. So much is this 

 the case that, furnished with a good spade, the 

 expert cultivator needs few other tools. It is most 

 important that spades and their handles should be 

 light and strong, and of such good quality that they 

 not only last long, but improve by the wear and 

 tear of frequent and constant use. Spades are made 

 of different sizes, from sixteen inches deep and ten 

 broad to nine inches by five. A capital size for 

 amateurs is a foot deep by eight inches broad. The 

 best spades mostly measure an inch or so less at the 

 point or cutting surface than at the upper or tread- 

 ing part of. the spade. All the best garden spades 

 now are faced with steel, the back being iron ; and 

 this juxtaposition of two metals of such imequal 

 hardness results in the iron wearing away fii'st and 

 leaving the thin steel plate almost as sharp as a 

 knife for cutting its way thi'ough the soil. The top 

 of good spades is furnished with a plate, called 

 the treader, which increases the power of the foot in 

 thrusting it into the ground, and also protects the 

 shoes in doing so. Laboming men, however, often 

 strap an iron treader under the sole of theii- boot to 

 prevent the latter being injured or worn out in the 

 act of trenching or digging. 



In good spades the handle consists of two parts — 

 the iron sheath and receiver, consisting of two sheaths 

 with holes for three or more rivets through them, and 



