308 SIR HENRY STEUART'S METHOD 



the proper quantity from some other quarter. A 

 few cart-loads will in general serve the purpose, and 

 as it is not requisite that it should be of a particu- 

 larly fine quality, the planter may procure it with- 

 out robbing his arable land, by taking advantage of 

 the scourings of ditches, or he may find the necessa- 

 ry supply in glens and hollow places in old planta- 

 tions, where, if it be dug up in stripes here and 

 there, of the breadth of a spade, and one spit in 

 depth, the removal of it will do no material in- 

 jury. 



The land is to be prepared for groups in a man- 

 ner similar to that now described, only it is recom- 

 mended, in this case, to trench the whole of the 

 ground which the group is intended to occupy, in- 

 stead of leaving unstirred the spaces between the 

 pits. By trenching the whole piece, greater scope 

 is given to the roots, besides that, by pursuing this 

 method, we may penetrate into the subsoil as far 

 as may be necessary to produce the proper depth of 

 mould, and thus save the trouble of bringing earth 

 from a distance, as no water can stagnate where 

 there is no pit to hold it, but where the bottom 

 of the whole being brought to the same level, all 

 superabundant moisture will be drained off. 



In preparing the land for close plantations, the 



