The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-04-24
How to Prepare a Garden.

season. before the sOli no."
fcently dry and friable. If digging Is
done when the earth is wet and cloggy,
the oneration causes the soil to become
like sunbaked bricks, which afterward
o;ves q large amount of additional la
Dor to sufficiently pulverize 1t and rem
der il suitable for seed-sowlng ana
setting out young plants. Ii shouiu
not. therefore, be commenced until
the sun and drying winds have evapo-
rated all excess of water. Spadlng
with a spade is now seldom done by
frst-class gardeners, that f1at-tined
spading fork being used IN preference
as the soil can be more thoroughly n
better pulverized with it than with a
spade. 1t is also a far better ample
ment for spading among fruit trees,
shrubs, and hardy plants in the flower
garden. as it does not cut and destroy
the surface roots.
Preparing the soil for the kitchen
garden is the first work to be done, as
many vegetable seeds do not vegetate
freely if sown when the ground is too
warm. The first operation Is the
spreading of the manure, horse manure
being the best for general purposes. Ii
hog, sheep, or chicken manure is to be
used, it should be first prepared by
mixing it with plenty Of good dry soil,
and breaking down and pulverizing all
Jumps. This will enable it to be more
easily spread, for if left in a lumpy
state one plant is liable to have too
much manure, whilst another may not
have anv, or at any rate less than It's
share. Horse or stable yard II
should have all the long straw, corn
stalks, or other rubbish we'll shaken out
of it. 1t is not necessary for ordinary
garden purposes that the manure should
be rotted. 1t may be applied quite
fresh, only less of it being used than
when rotted, as it is much stronger.
Manure should always be very evenly
spread, and in small quantities at a
time, as when exposed 20 the action of
the sun and the high drying winds Of
March and April, a large proportion of
its strength is evaporated, and SO
wasted. The spading fork when used
in digging unoccupied soil. should al
ways be inserted nearly perpendicularly
the depth of eight or nine inches,
the slices o being more than five or
six inchef wide; ifmuch wider, the soil
cannot be sufficiently pulverized, and if
the fork is not inserted to a sufficient
the roots of the young plants
will not penetrate deep enough to ena-
bic them to withstand any drought.
The operation or trenching. or dig
ging the soil two or more spades deep
is generally wrongly performed, as the
soil is brought to the surface,
and the top soil buried below. In such
cases the soil brought to the surface is
almost always poor and of a hungry
nature, totally untitled for young plant
ife. The proper way of doing it is to
,pen a trench two or more feet wide
a spade deep. throwing the top
'oil to one side, then spread some ma
in the bottom of the trench. and
,pade it into the bottom soil; on this
brow the top soil of the next trench,
incorporating with it some manure
SO on, trench after trench, until
he plot is finished. filling up the last
rench with the top soil taken from the
trench
In spading among fruit trees or
hrubs, the fork should be much more
Inclined in the hand, and only thin
ayers of soil turned over, for if thrust
the roots near the surface will
e broken and destroyed, to the great
injury of the tree. Trees and shrubs
very little manure at any one
ime, only needing as much as will
revent the exhaustion Of the soil bv
heir bearing fruit, and this does not
to be deeply dug in. Flower
eds should not be spaded until all the {
lants bave made their appearance
bove ground, for if done too soon /
ley are liable to be injured by the !
,rk or spade. They do not need much
ianure, as a general rule.
1t is a very common practice for men
no are employed to work IN gardens. :
when spading among grouns {
shrubs. to work the beds much hioh. |
in the enter than at the sides e
his is wrong, as it throws all the
lin-fall from the center to the EDGES |
Id the central shrubs do not get their s
supply of moisture. In all cases t
le surface should be kept quite level. c
is a sure sign that the so-called gar
ener is an i%gnoramus, and does o t
his business. The opera a
on of spading is considered by most |
aople as a very simple one which anv t
borer can perform, but it is really a \
st whether the mau employed to do e
is a practical gardener or ONLY a d
'mmon laborer. In the very many
where a regular gardener is not or
mot be kept, the work has to be +,
me by a common labOrer, but in such .
ses his work should be supervised =
an intelligent employer, for the e
ccess of the garden season NAV large o
depend upon its being properly Il
me at the first. If the soil is not t.