426 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



the transplanting machine, might yet be deterred from a due prepara- 

 tion of the soil by the seeming quantity of manure that is prescribed 

 for it. But here is a noble and valuable compound, adapted to all soils 

 and climates, and which may be applied at a very small expense, with- 

 out encroaching on the stercoraceous collections of their farm-yards. 

 There are comparatively few situations in this kingdom in which peat- 

 moss of tolerable quality is unattainable on account of distance* — and 

 it is fortunate that it is so, because we know no given substance that 

 could supply its place. In many districts (as is seen in the present 

 section) it costs, when made up with lime, according to the above- 

 mentioned method, not more than 6d. per cart-load ; and there are 

 others in which it may be had at a still smaller cost. But much depends 

 on the skill and attention that are bestowed on making it up. 



Note IV. Page 143. 



I conceive that I have made a considerable improvement on the 

 ordinary method of trenching or double- digging of ground, whether for 

 horticultural or arboricultural purposes. Common gardeners' trenching 

 is often a mere turning up and turning down of the soil, in regular 

 strata, without effecting any pulverisation or comminution of the parts ; 

 and although it deepens, it generally does nothing more, especially when 

 the trenching is done on grass-grounds. The method which I have 

 practised with great effect, for twenty years, I can much recommend to 

 others. 



In trenching eighteen inches deep, (and any thing less is of little use,) 

 instead of keeping the bottom of the trench eighteen inches wide — or, as 

 it is generally done, only a foot — I would have it kept two feet wide ; 

 and instead of executing the two spits deep successively, with a regular 

 shovelling after each, I would have three spits executed without any 

 shovelling^ but with a good Scotch spade, (as it is called,) of which the 

 mouth is at least ten inches in length. The solid side of the trench is 

 of course cut perpendicularly ; but the loose side or face of the work 

 should be kept at a slope of not less than an angle of fifty or sixty 



* "In two-thirds of all the land in Scotland, (says an intelHgent writer,) 

 moss sufficient for making compost may be found within a mile. Unless it be 

 in some parts of the counties of Edinburgh and Haddiugton, there is scarce 

 one farm in Scotland, south of the Forth, but can have moss within five miles; 

 and not one farm in a thousand but may find it within three miles." — Alton 8 

 Treatise on Moss-Eartli, p. 174. 



