14 
DEEP TRENCHING. 
before the frost came. A bed of carrots was sown on tbe shallow 
dug ground and nearly all failed, while two beds adjoining them 
were well trenched and proved an excellent crop. Were it ne¬ 
cessary to prove so self-evident a matter I might adduce a number 
of other things which were similarly improved, the superiority 
of these over others of precisely the same character cultivated in 
the ordinary manner was so great that I am at a loss to account for 
the continued neglect of the excellent means thus offered for reno¬ 
vating old soil and the preservation in good heart of new. If we 
take the trouble to reflect on the matter at all, it may be easily 
perceived how much more natural it is for the roots of plants to 
delight in soil well stirred up—that is, the bottom soil brought to 
the top and exposed to the action of the air, that it may be well 
pulverised and sweltered. Vegetables under these circumstances 
have a better chance for their roots to range about in search of 
food and moisture, and are better fitted to stand the effects of 
continued drought or the scorching rays of a sudden sunburst. 
But, on the other hand, when there is a hard subsoil the land is 
soon wet and soon dry. The superior equability of soil resting on a 
loosened sub-strata may be familiarly exemplified in the following 
manner:—Take two barrowfuls of sand, and spread one on a 
rock and the other on the earth, both being alike in thickness 
and both equally exposed to the sun, and you will find that on 
the rock to be dried the soonest, for the rock itself being hard 
does not absorb the rays of the sun, but they are reflected back 
among the particles of sand. On the other hand, that on the 
loose earth has only its surface exposed to the drying influences, 
while, at the same time, it actually receives moisture out of the 
earth, and is consequently longer in getting dry; so it is with 
deep trenched land—there is plenty of loose soil for moisture to 
work in, the warmth of the sun and the vivifying effects of the air 
permeate equally throughout to the manifest benefit of the roots 
with which it is thus brought in contact; and, again, in the 
opposite case, a thoroughly loosened soil is never subject to ex¬ 
cessive moisture, for the same porosity which admits the air 
enables the water to escape either downwards beyond the reach 
of ordinary roots, or upwards by evaporation into the air. 
During the past season we have had an opportunity of seeing the 
effects of both wet and dry weather on soils of both descriptions. 
