LAYING OUT GROUNDS. 33 



soil is very important ; and should it not be sufficient, a considerable 

 expenditure must be incurred to render it so : the depth of good 

 soil should be at least two feet ; the most desirable is a black vege- 

 table earth, or a rich free-working loam, not tenacious of wet. 

 Should a desirable situation present itself as to aspect and general 

 convenience, and the soil not be found of so tractable a nature as 

 could be wished, or should a garden be already formed on an im- 

 proper spot, then it will be requisite that the designer or person 

 conducting the ground-work should be conversant with the nature 

 and treatment of soils generally, their chemical properties, and the 

 best methods of correcting such as are bad. 



In the improvement of land, first ascertain whether it be over- 

 charged with wet ; if so, draining must be resorted to. The cause of 

 the retention of moisture must be investigated, — whether it proceed 

 from the surface being of so tenacious a nature as to retain the 

 water, or whether its base be of an absorbent quality. Having 

 discovered the cause, the best mode of rectifying the evil is then 

 to be considered. 



For surface moisture, hollow drains of about two feet deep should 

 be formed, their direction being regulated by the position of the 

 land : if there be a great declivity, they should run diagonally ; 

 for, if carried in the direction of the land, the course of the 

 water wears away the sides and chokes up the drain, and such 



F 



