6 
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 
can be gleaned from each other, so that, in presenting my ideas in this 
paper at such a time, I need not, I feel certain, make any apology. 
Preparation of Ground.- — An old cookery recipe started with the 
words " First catch your hare, then cook it," and this could to-day be 
paraphrased into " First get your ground, then crop it." In between 
these two stages, however, lie the most important details of cultiva- 
tion. The land may very likely be rough pasture land, or waste ground, 
or perhaps an old, long-worked garden, but in each and every case the 
secret of success is in the proper working of the soil. There is no 
question but that the most important operation is trenching (or soil- 
moving) to a depth, where possible, of from 2 feet 6 inches to 4 feet, 
with the object of draining and aerating this depth properly, in order 
to render it ideally workable and fruitful. I believe in bringing the 
subsoil to the surface, when trenching, in order to render the whole 
of top-spit and subsoil one homogeneous mass of good material, 
whatever its nature. 
Of course, in this paper, where I mention trenching, I refer to 
the ideal and approved methods which should rightly be carried out in 
autumn or during the open weather in winter and early spring ; but, 
unfortunately, owing to lack of man-power, much will have to be 
performed less well than it should be, and in many cases late, this 
year. The earlier, however, it can be done the better, in order to 
reap the highly beneficial actions of frost and wind, sun and rain. 
Where exact methods have to be abandoned, the best substitutes 
must be employed, and if we find an enthusiastic amateur, late in 
beginning, who is likely to be deterred from making a start owing to 
the labour of trenching, we must tell him to do his best. If he cannot 
find time to do by far the best thing for his ground, by trenching it 
deeply, induce him to double-dig, or even single-dig, his plot, as it 
will be more in the national interest to reap even a light increase by 
his labours than no crop at all. 
When the area for cultivation is too large to be prepared by spade 
work, a small plough can be used to much advantage, but care should 
be taken, where ground is of the nature of rough pasture, to remove, 
by "grubbing, wiry tussocks before such operations commence, or 
they will prove a source of very much trouble and extra labour in 
after days. 
Double-digging, or bastard trenching, is carried out similarly 
to trenching proper, but only two spits deep. In single digging 
it is important that the spit of soil should be inverted as it is dug. 
I do not, of course, recommend the last method, but it can be employed 
by a late starter, for better this than nothing. 
Drainage. — In conjunction with trenching, or deep digging, too 
much stress cannot be laid on the necessity of drainage of kitchen 
gardens, either by natural or artificial methods, to a depth to which 
the ground is worked. This will effectively prevent the soil from 
becoming water-logged and packed, and will keep it sweet, provided 
a good method of drainage having an efficient outlet is adopted. 
