71 



charcoal, merely to fill up some of the crevices. It 

 is not rammed, that is to say, not pounded, or jammed 

 together in the same way potting is too often done, 

 but pushed down as we proceed, quietly. Thus the 

 soil is really a whole body of drainage — there is no 

 obstruction either to the atmosphere or the water. 

 {Johnson's Modern Gard. Diet.) 



At Bicton the following mode of preparing the soil 

 for pine apples from the top turfy spit of a common 

 is adopted by Mr. Barnes. In dry weather during 

 summer, a naturally well drained part of the common 

 is selected, and the top layer is cut from it with all its 

 native herbage by means of a turf mattock. This 

 turf is turned upside down, with the soil side to the 

 influence of the sun and atmosphere for some days 

 until dry ; it is then packed in cocks, as poor people 

 would turf to burn, to secure it from rain, and then 

 carted home as quickly as possible, and placed on a 

 foundation of rough wood to the width of 4 feet, 

 placing a quantity of rough wood between it as it is 

 stacked, to prevent its fermentation, or the breeding 

 of fungi, and to insure its entire healthiness until re- 

 quired for use. It is stacked 5 or 6 feet in height, 

 being finished off in the form of a ridged or pitched 

 roof, which is at once thatched. To insure looseness 

 of texture, as every turf is taken from the stack for 

 use, a hard blow or two is given to it on the soil side. 

 This is done with a heavy piece of wood of 2 inches 



