16 
STIRRING THE SOIL. [chap. i. 
choked up; or, if kept as wide as before, the 
surface of the ground will be rendered un¬ 
even, and the last furrow left without earth 
enough to fill it up. In digging each furrow 
also, care must be taken to carry it quite up 
to the line of demarcation; as, otherwise, 
what the gardeners call a baulk or piece of 
firm land would be left there, and, of course, 
the bed would neither look well, nor would 
the object for which it was dug be fully at¬ 
tained. Great care must also be taken to 
keep the surface of the bed even, and this 
it is extremely difficult for a novice to do. It 
is, indeed, very provoking, after watching 
the ease with which a gardener digs a bed, 
and looking at the perfectly smooth and even 
surface that he leaves, to find how very hard 
it is to imitate him; and yet it is essentially 
necessary to be done, for if there are any 
irregularities in the surface, the hollow places 
will collect the moisture, and the plants in 
them will grow vigorously, while those in the 
raised places will be speedily dried by the 
sun and wind, and will look poor and 
withered. Practice is certainly required to 
render digging easy, but, as the principal 
