PRACTICAL MANAGEMENT OF SOILS 27 
autumn the air and frosts of winter will mellow 
and pulverize the solid masses so that in spring they 
will crumble down to a fine tilth. Quicklime, 
applied at the rate of a quarter hundredweight to 
the square rod, will break down stubborn clay, 
correct its acidity and liberate much of the chemical 
nourishment hitherto locked up in the soil. 
Coarse sand, ground mortar rubble, wood ashes, 
burnt earth, oyster-shell grit, and even a limited 
quantity of coal ashes will benefit clay soil by making 
it more porous and lighter in texture. A supply 
of humus will again be necessary, and a few weeks 
after liming vegetable refuse, spent brewers' hops 
or stable manure should be dug in and well buried. 
The ideal soil for a new garden is the fibrous 
turfy loam of an old pasture, the only real trouble 
where such has been freshly broken up being that 
wire worm will in all probability abound. Birds 
will account for many of these if the ground is 
roughly dug and left fallow for a while. Other 
measures for dealing with these destructive pests 
are dealt with in the chapter on the ills and ailments 
of hardy plants. 
There is a vast difference between a broken-up 
pasture and the undersoil from which the surface 
turf has been removed. The turf itself, full of 
fibrous roots, rich in humus and nourishment, is 
often removed for sale, but it must be remembered 
that the soil underneath has lain undisturbed 
perhaps for many years, shut off from the influence 
