METHODS OF TRENCHING

Hutt News, Volume 1, Issue 3, 6 May 1927, Page 6

METHODS OF TRENCHING

Dig out a trench two or three feet deep and the same width across the whole section to.be trenched,' wheeling the soil to the finishing t>oint. The operator will then have a trench in front of him two or three feet wide and deep. Loosen up the base of the empty trench with pick or spade, six inches or more. Put on top of loosened subsoil a good layer of manure, weeds, green vegetable refuse, or any coarse, untidy refuse at hand. Avoid rutting in potato haulms or clubbed cabbage roots; these should be burnt to destroy disease spores. The trench is then filled up by digging the second trench, and so on to the finish. On the score of labour and expense bastard trenching or. double digging is often favoured. The method being to open a trench twice as wide as in ordinary digging; after the top spit has been removed, the bottom is broken up, manure or garden refuse added, the top spit is then added from next trench, and so on. In planting shrubs, roses, etc., in old borders or partly cultivated ground a simple plan is to dig out a foot of soil, well loosen the bottom and return the soil.