The weather conditions are not likely to change much in the two sections of the month - or rather, they are not likely to depart very much from a certain order of changes. There will be some frost, probably, and some rain - perhaps a spell of snow or sleet. There is hardly likely to be much settled fine weather of the kind that the gardener can rely upon for outdoor sowing. But occasionally we get a period of dry weather in the latter half of the month, during which the soil becomes crumbly. Should that happen, gardening may go on. The true gardener is always on the watch for opportunities. He is as one who is engaged in constant warfare with a wily enemy - the clerk of the weather. The latter has a quite Puckish vein of humour. He loves to take you by surprise with a sudden burst of fine weather, watch gleefully while the fact that it really is fine is slowly dawning upon you; and then, just when you fully awaken, and sally forth for action, to hurl a snowstorm at you.

There is nothing much worse than a snowstorm in a garden. You cannot dig, even if the ground is soft, because the snow chills the soil for a long time if turned in. You cannot plant trees. You cannot sow seeds. You cannot wheel manure. You cannot lay turf. And a garden is not an ideal place for tobogganing, because there are rockeries, and Cucumber frames, and other impedimenta.

One of the reasons for my profound belief in gardening is that this incessant weather warfare makes people alert, and quick to seize opportunities. Professional gardeners would make grand scouts with a little technical training, because they have the root matter in them - foresight, watchfulness, powers of observation, and promptness of action.

A fine spell in January is often a great boon to the gardener. If it does no more, it enables him to get ground ready, alike for sowing and planting. Let us see how he can do this.

Improving And Preparing Soil

It is almost always found that when a sunny spell follows frost, the soil, erstwhile in stiff lumps, crumbles on being moved. A crumbly soil is a thousand times better than a lumpy one. It is amazing how quickly some soils become crumbly. When the frost leaves the ground, the soil appears to be a mass of grease and putty which will remain messy until the end of time. In forty-eight hours, after sunshine, it may be dry enough to fall readily into small particles. All soils are not alike in this; some need more time than others, and it is the business of the gardener to find out how his own soil behaves under given conditions of weather. Stiff, clay soil will often crumble in January or February after frost, although, should the weather be wet and the sky dull throughout those months, March may arrive before it is workable. Let every garden lover remember that for flowers, fruit, and vegetables alike, winter working in dry, sunny weather after frost is highly beneficial to the soil. A handy labourer will neatly bastard-trench and manure the soil simultaneously, taking off the top coating to the depth of his spade, breaking up the under layer to an equal depth, and laying on a dressing of manure two or three inches thick before replacing the top layer. He will not attempt to reduce the surface to a very fine state at first, but leave it in smallish lumps, for fear of more rain before sowing time, which would make a fine surface close and paste-like. Just before sowing is the time to reduce the top layer to fine particles.

Fig. 18. - Trenching Soil.

a. Space from which soil has been taken to place at b.

d. Space to be filled with soil from c.

e. Lower soil loosened and manured.