November 20. 
COUNTRY gp:ntleman’s companion. 
129 
the tree, if liviog, is, probably, the more important 
object; wliereas, at the beginning, there was no com¬ 
parison of the amount of labour required to each ; but 
such is the all-important aid we receive from Nature, 
that however imperfectly we do our part, she kindly 
assists to remedy our omissions; at the same time, we 
are reminded that tlie better we do our part, and the 
more in season it is done, a proportionately increased 
benefit will accrue from natural causes. A plant care¬ 
fully put into its place at tlie beginning of the growing- 
season, has every advantage in its favour, other things 
being also in accordance with that view. Many things 
else, as well as planting, require to be done at the right 
season. “ Making hay while the sun shines” is an 
axiom which has a very extended application; but it is 
not my purpose here to dwell on that matter, but to 
point out certain things which are sometimes neglected 
at the “right season,” because their necessity of being 
done then does not seem so apparent as some others; 
and one of the most common things to neglect at the 
right season, is the cultivation necessary for newly-broken 
up ground, or it might be newly-formed gardens, in 
places where tillage has not been carried on before. 
In the first place, we will suppose a suburban amateur, 
anxious to commence gardening on his own account, 
finds a plot of ground at the back of his building all 
but useless. If the premises be new, probably there 
are heaps of stones, brick-bats, refuse mortar, shavings, 
slips of slate, and other odds and ends lying about, 
together with heaps of earth, or clay, dug out of the 
foundation of the building, and many other substances. 
A fence of some description we will suppose does exist, 
but the whole surface of the ground hardened, by 
carting or walking over, in such a manner as to have 
a very unpromising appearance in the way of pro¬ 
ducing anything useful; but, not to be disheartened 
by appearances, the persevering man of business sets 
about a reformation at once; but whether prudently, or 
not, remains to be seen. 
Perseverance will overcome many difficulties; but 
when industry is well directed, the result is much 
sooner accomplished Take, for instance, a piece of 
ground of a stiff, half-clayey nature, with large heaps of 
real impenetrable clay lying on the top, which, having 
been dug out of the cellars, or foundations, are laid there, 
and cannot well be put anywhere else. In this case, 
the best that can be done is to burn this clay on the 
spot, provided it can be done without the smoke 
creating a greater annoyance than ought to be; for, be 
it here understood, the burning of clay is an opera¬ 
tion that must be going on for some weeks, but the 
smoke, though continuous, is not so offensive as that 
from most other substances; and, on a clayey soil, burnt 
clay is, perhaps, the best of all fertilisers, as its anti- 
adhesive qualities suit exactly to keep the other open ; 
and the burning of clay is neither a laborious nor an 
expensive affair, only it is right here to observe, that 
it is better done in the country than in towns. In the 
former place there is often the grubbed-up roots of 
trees, and other things to assist in the work, which are 
not so plentiful about town; but, supposing it is 
determined to try it, the best way is to smooth a place 
for the hearth, and if it is tolerably hard, dig a small 
ditch across it, and another at right angles to that, 
crossing each other in the middle. This ditch need not 
be more than three inches wide, and as many deep, and 
ought to be covered over with brick, or stone, not too 
closely placed together; and in the centre, where these 
four drains meet, a good pile, of rough stones, or brick¬ 
bats, will bo necessary, the object being to have a 
current of air to feed the fire in the centre. A fire of 
any rough materials may now bo made on these stones; 
and as some combustible materials or other must be 
used rather liberally, it is better to have a tolerably 
good fire before the clay is put on; and when that is ! 
begun with, the pieces must bo rather lumpy, and free i 
from small dirt, and laid on by hand ; a little at a time | 
will do, but the process must be repeated every day, or ! 
nearly so, adding layers of wood, or coal, with the clay, | 
and, eventually, you may lay the clay on in spadefuls, j 
but do not, by any means, meddle with the burning 
mass. This operation, it is needless to say, is best 
done in summer; but it is also done in winter, at times, 
only at a greater sacrifice of fuel. This, however, we 
must leave with the proprietor. When the mass is well 
burnt, there is no dilliculty in understanding how to 
use it; at the same time, it ought not to prevent other 
things being used also. Lime is an excellent substance 
for stiff land; and if the amateur determines on not 
burning his clay, which may be objectionable so near 
dwelling-houses, lime is the best substance to fertilise 
it; and a good dressing of that, with such things as 
wood-ashes, soot, old mortar rubbish, chipping of stones, 
or bricks, or, in fact, anything of any opposite nature to 
the binding clay, will be servicable in making the 
ground available to the purposes of cultivation. 
Now, though all these operations may be performed 
very quickly, the clay burning excepted, the purposes 
of Nature are not so easily served. “ Time ” is necessary 
to conveft long sealed-up loam into good, fertile mould, 
and the object of the cultivator ought to be to have this | 
work done so as to have it all in readiness by the proper 
planting-time, by which is meant, that work of this 
kind ought to be done so that the ground may have 
been exposed to all tlie changes of the weather for some 
weeks prior to the spring, when it is supposed that the 
usual crops will be put in. Tor this purpose, therefore, 
the trenching of such ground ought to be all done early 
in the autumn, and the surface left as rough as possible 
during the winter, and once or twice during the winter 
it ought to have a good digging over so as to expose 
another portion of it to the action of the air. The 
trenching being accomplished in the usual way, at 
least two feet deep, and if there is any difference in the 
material worked up, it would be better to work as much 
of the lighter or more open substance into the bottom, 
keeping the stiffer portion at the top, into which may 
be worked lime, or other things, at any time. This is 
on the supposition that the ground is of that stift’, 
retentive character, called, in plain language, a “ clayey 
soil.” 
A light, sandy, or gravelly soil nnrst be tilled equally 
deep, only a different description of material must be 
used to mix with it, clay, loam, or any adhesive material 
that is to be had, and liberal allowances of dung at 
times, while, as before stated, the work must be per¬ 
formed some weeks before the ground has to be planted; 
for, like everything else, this soil is equally barren when 
denied free access to the air; and though it is not likely 
to have been so completely shut out from it as the 
clayey soil alluded to, still it requires a certain time to 
sweeten and obtain those gasses on which the welfare of 
vegetation depends. This renders it necessary to pre¬ 
pare such ground as long before the time it is wanted 
as possible, as the best of soils will become barren by 
being denied access to the fresh air. I well remember, 
some years ago, seeing a good example in point. Some 
old buildings were taken down to make room for some 
garden alterations, and, in the course of operations, a ' 
JBox-edging was planted in some fine-looking, dry earth ! 
that had laid underneath the barn-floor, for, perhaps, a | 
century. The nice, mellow appearance of this soil led ^ 
to its being used for the purpose of planting the Box 
in; the other ground, or, rather, earth, being exceedingly j 
rough and unkindly (as the local phrase would have it). . 
Well, this Box was planted, but not an inch of it grew, | 
save where it was planted in mould that had been in 
some way or other exposed to the air; thus proving, at j 
