to germinate as quickly as possible, pointing is preferable to digging; because the latter operation would bury the warm soil, and bring that up to the surface which is still as cold as in winter. Pointing is also used in stirring the ground among trees and other plants, in order that the spade may not go so deeply into the ground as to injure their roots.
Burying manure.—There are two ways of digging the ground for the purpose of burying manure: according to the first method, the manure is spread evenly over the whole bed, and then the gardener proceeds to dig as though the manure were in fact a portion of the surface of the soil; and according to the second method, the manure having been first brought to the spot and thrown into a heap, is deposited, a small portion at a time, at the bottom of each furrow as it is formed, and the earth from the next fun-ow thrown over it. In both cases, the manure should be buried as speedily as possible; as if left long exposed in small quantities to the air in hot dry weather, it loses a great part of its nutritious qualities by evaporation.
Digging for the purpose of exposing the soil to the action of the weather, trenching, and ridging on a large scale, are operations too laborious to be performed by any one but a gardener's labourer. To be done well, the earth in all these cases should be removed in large spadefuls at a time, and turned over without breaking; on which account these operations are best performed in moist weather, when the earth is in an adhesive state. Ridging on a small scale may be useful in a flower garden, when the soil is much infested with insects, or where there are many weeds. It is performed by opening a trench, and throwing up the earth out of it in the form of a ridge; and then opening another trench, and forming another ridge in the same manner. The whole garden is thus thrown into a series of ridges and trenches, which should be suffered to remain all the winter, and be levelled in spring. It is obvious that this mode of ameliorating the soil can only be practised where the garden is not likely to be visited during winter, as it destroys all beauty, and has a peculiarly desolate and forlorn appearance. It is thus a remedy only to be resorted to in extreme cases; but fortunately there are very few flower gardens in which the soil is in so bad a state as to require it.
The other kinds of digging are to form pits for receiving plants, or for filling with choice soil, and to remove plants. In the first case, a hole of sufficient size to receive the plant is dug, and the earth
