14 



SITUATION, SOIL, 



[chap. 



earth which comes out of the first trench must go to fill up 

 the last trench ; and, therefore, in this case, there would be 

 prett}- nearly a hundred cart-loads of earth to be carted, or 

 wheeled, from one end of the piece to the other : whereas, by 

 proceeding in the way of strips, you fill up the trench with 

 hardly any wheeling at all. The ground being laid out in strips, 

 you begin at c, ani take off all the top earth of a cross strip t^vo 

 feet wide ; and you wheel that earth to the end of the further strip 

 at S. The little cross strip a is marked out by sti-aining a line 

 across the great strip, and making a chop with the spade. When 

 you have taken away the top earth of c, mark out the cross strip 

 h, and wheel away its top earth also to the same place as before, 

 laying this top earth altogether in one round snug heap, just 

 without the limits of the ground at S. You have now got the top 

 earth away from the tw^o first trenches a and 5. You next take 

 out the bottom earth of the trench a, down to the depth of three 

 feet, and you wheel that away and put it into a round and snug 

 heap, distinct from the other heap, at the end of the further strip 

 at S. You have now the trench a quite empty down to three feet 

 deep ; you then move the earth with a spade, or other tool, to the 

 depth of nine inches at the bottom of the trench a : then you take 

 the bottom earth of the trench h, aud keep putting it into the 

 trench a, until you have gone to the depth of three feet ; then you 

 dig or move the earth nine inches deep again at the bottom 

 of the trench b: then you take the top earth from the trench c, and 

 lay it upon the top of the trench a. The trench h remains empts- 

 all this time, and you have to toss the top earth of c across the 

 trench b in order to place it upon the top of the trench a. The 

 trench a is now finished : it has got the top earth of c on its top, 

 and all its contents have been completely moved to the depth 

 of three feet nine inches. You next take the bottom earth of c and 

 turn it into the trench Z?; and when you have moved or dug the bot- 

 tom of c in the same manner as you did that of a and h, you 

 take the top earth of the trench d and put it upon the top of the 

 trench Z>; and thus you go on till you arrive at A. When you 

 arrive at A, you will find yourself with an empty trench at the end, 

 and with a trench with no top earth upon it next to that at the end. 

 You therefore now begin the second strip at C : you take the top earth 

 of the first two feet wide, and put it upon top of the trench next 

 to the end one of the last strip : you then take the bottom earth 



