CONSIDER THE SOIL 
15 
The following proportion of fertilizers will be found correct for 
an acid bed: 
Cottonseed meal.10 pounds 
Rock phosphate, finely ground.4 pounds 
Sulphate of potash.2 pounds 
ACID WATER FORMULA 
Limestone water can be made acid by dissolving one heaping 
tablespoonful of aluminum sulphate or solution of tannic acid to 
one gallon of water, applying every two to three weeks, thoroughly 
saturating the ground. 
PREPARATION OF AREAS FOR PLANTING 
TRENCHING 
Many people have found that the preparation of a long border 
or other large space for planting is most easily accomplished by a 
method known as “trenching”. 
If underdrainage is necessary (as with clay and some of the 
heavier soils) the depth of the subsoil to be removed will be down 
to about five feet below the surface level and broken tile, brick, 
cinders or some such material be put in for drainage. However, if 
the area is well drained, the subsoil need only be excavated about 
two feet. 
The first step in trenching is to mark off the area to be prepared 
into sections—the most easily handled being two-foot sections— 
and remove the topsoil, placing it in a pile apart, because all of it 
is used in preparing a flower bed. 
If the subsoil thereby exposed is sand, remove some of it (about 
one-third) and add clay, humus or barnyard manure, forking all 
well into a loose texture. If it is clay (whether red, brown or 
black-waxy) it must be thoroughly broken up to a depth of 
three to five feet (dependent on drainage requirements), part re¬ 
moved and the remaining lightened with sand, sifted coal ashes and 
humus, forking the barnyard manure well into the mixture. If 
Fertilizer 
for Acid-Soil 
Bed 
Drainage 
Sections 
Treatment of 
Subsoil 
