“But suppose the garden plot is large.  Then divide this up into strips a foot wide and take off the sod as before.  What shall be done with the sod?  Do not throw it away for it is full of richness, although not quite in available form.  So pack the sod grass side down one square on another.  Leave it to rot and to weather.  When rotted it makes a fine fertilizer.  Such a pile of rotting vegetable matter is called a compost pile.  All through the summer add any old green vegetable matter to this.  In the fall put the autumn leaves on.  A fine lot of goodness is being fixed for another season.

“The girls, I suppose, think this is a wretched heap to have in the corner of a garden.  So it is.  But it is possible to screen it.  Plant before the space allotted to this, castor beans, tall cannas or sunflowers.  Perhaps the castor beans would be the best of all.  Sunflowers get brown and straggly looking before the season is past its prime.

“Even when the garden is large enough to plough, I would pick out the largest pieces of sod rather than have them turned under.  Go over the ploughed space, pick out the pieces of sod, shake them well and pack them up in a compost heap.

“What is to be done with the rubbish often found on new garden sites?  If this be only weeds and other vegetable matter it may be very easily burned on the garden spot.  But suppose it is a grand collection of tin cans, bottles and such things as cannot be burned?  What can we do with them?  Cities have public dumps where lots are to be filled in.  All such trash may go to these.  Oftentimes it is possible to find suitable places in the country for dumping.  But do not dump where the rubbish is to be unsightly for others as it has been for yourself; far better have a dump heap on your own land and screen this as the compost heap was to be shielded from view.  We take the wrong point of view if we dump rubbish anywhere, for the sake of getting rid of it.  You remember your plan is to help make a more beautiful village.

“How must the small garden be spaded?  A method called trenching, is good because it is so thorough.  Here is a diagram George has made.  Just get your heads around this, and I’ll explain it.

[Illustration:  From this plan see the scheme of trenching.  Top soil from AA’ is carted to EE’.  Then the top soil from BB’ goes into AA’.  Continue this method and see that the soil on EE’ finally goes into trench DD’.  So all the top soil in this given area is worked over and is still kept on top.]

“This rectangle is supposed to be the plot which needs digging.  Line it off into strips one foot wide.  Have your wheelbarrow right beside AA’.  Dig one foot of top soil out of strip A’ along all its length.  Put this into the barrow and dump it into the strip marked EE’ outside of the garden proper.  Do the same thing to strip BB’, only throw the soil into trench AA’.  The top soil from CC’ goes into BB’; that of DD’ into CC’.  Now the soil that was dumped outside the garden upon the strip EE’ of course is already to go right into trench DD’.