_Soil Preparation._--"All the operations of this art are very simple and
easy; there is nothing to be done but to dig up the earth with a
pickaxe, break the clods with a shovel, so as to divide it well, and
then lay it in a heap, which is very necessary, because as the labourers
throw it on that heap, the lumps of earth and large stones roll to the
bottom, where another man may break them or draw them away with a rake.
I must observe that there should be an interval of about an inch and a
quarter between the teeth of the rake, that the stones and pebbles of
the size of a walnut, or something more, may escape, and that it may
draw off only the largest. If the earth that has been dug has not the
proper quality, which is seldom the case, and it is necessary to fetch
some better from a distance, then the mixture must be made in this
manner: one man must throw one shovelful of the best sort, while the
others throw five or six of the inferior sort on the heap, and so more
or less according to the proportions which have been previously
ascertained."
_Rain._--"No more earth should be prepared than the men can work in one
day, or a little more, that they may not be in want; but if rain is
expected, you must have at hand either planks, mats, or old cloths to
lay over the heap of earth, so that the rain may not wet it; and then as
soon as the rain is over, the men may resume their work, which, without
this precaution, must be delayed; for it must be remembered that the
earth cannot be used when it is either too dry or too wet, and therefore
if the rain should wet it after it has been prepared, the men will be
obliged to wait till it has recovered its proper consistency--a delay
which would be equally disadvantageous to them and their employer. When
the earth has been soaked by rain, instead of suffering compression, it
becomes mud in the mould; even though it be but a little too moist, it
cannot be worked; it swells under the blows of the rammer, and a stroke
in one place makes it rise in another. When this is the case, it is
better to stop the work, for the men find so much difficulty that it is
not worth while to proceed. But there is not the same necessity of
discontinuing the work when the earth is too dry, for it is easy to give
it the necessary degree of moisture; in such a case it should be
sprinkled with a watering-pot, and afterwards well mixed up together; it
will then be fit for use."
_Organic Matter._--"It has already been observed that no vegetable
substances should be left in the earth; therefore in digging, as well as
in laying the earth in a heap, great care must be taken to pick out
every bit of root, great and small, all sprigs and herbs, all bits of
hay and straw, chips or shavings of woods, and in general everything
that can rot or suffer a change in the earth."