The advantages of draining are many and sure. Excessive 
moisture makes the soil sour and cold. Soil that is not well drained 
"bakes" and forms a crust that discourages even the strongest plants. 
Drainage regulates the supply of moisture, aerates the soil (thus stimu- 
lating bacterial action) and makes it warmer and therefore earlier. 
Even land that lies high and has considerable natural drainage is, unless 
very sandy, improved by tile draining, which deepens the top soil and 
puts it into condition to receive the most benefit from the rain and any 
applications of fertilizers. 
Draining by subsoiling with dynamite has, in my experience, given 
very satisfactory results. This should be done before tiling. Dynamite 
can be used with entire safety if reasonable precautions are taken in 
handling it. If preferred, a professional blaster can be employed. 
4. Fertilizers 
The very best fertilizer for the garden is well-rotted barnyard 
manure; its beneficent bacterial action in the soil makes it invaluable. 
Rich in nitrogen, it is somewhat lacking in phosphoric acid and potash, 
which are easily supplied in necessary quantities by the application of 
commercial fertilizers. Nitrogen can also be supplied by ploughing 
under green crops. If humus has been conscientiously added, if the soil 
has been properly sweetened, if the tile draining has been carefully done, 
the soil is in condition to benefit to the utmost from any fertilizer that a 
certain plant may require. In my own garden, which was prepared in 
the way described in this article, very little fertilizer except manure is 
used. Wood ashes from the winter hearth and some bone meal for a 
specially prized paeony or rose are used each year. But the vigor and 
abundance and beauty of the flowers I ascribe to that first thorough 
preparation of the soil. 
While all this preparation takes time and money (delaying the 
actual planting of the garden for one year) the expenditure will give 
ample returns for many years to come in stronger and better plants which 
are more easily grown. If you have not your own farm organization, 
the ploughing and green crop planting can be done by some nearby 
farmer. 
I would suggest that much help in gardening would be gained by 
a further short study of the soil and its treatment. Three excellent and 
clearly written books on the subject are : 
"First Principles of Soil Fertility," Alfred Vivian. 
"Soil Management," F. H. King. 
"Practical Farm Drainage," C. G. Elliott. 
Mrs. Edward Harding, 
Garden Club of Somerset Hills, N. J. 
