To ameliorate, in Gardening, means to revitalize land which no longer contains the mineral salts necessary to plants, by ploughing the soil thoroughly and warming it with excellent manure in order to enrich and replenish it. If the soil is exhausted or poor, the entire area must be dug to a depth of three feet, and the poor soil removed and replaced with better soil. The soil may also be turned over to a depth of three feet: to this end, dig a trench six feet wide from one end and along the entire length of the garden, put a half-foot layer of manure compatible with the soil at the bottom of the trench, and cover the manure with the soil, taking care to put the topsoil, which is always the best and must be reserved, at the bottom. Similar trenches dug over the entire area will lead back to the first and reinvigorate the soil. This operation is less costly than introducing new soil in the manner described above. There would be a gap near the last strip if the manure, which is spread everywhere and raises the soil level, did not compensate for this defect.

If soil is found to be stony it can be passed through a large riddle, but if there are large stones or rocks touching each other here and there they may be left: they are harmless, and may even help to filter the coarsest particles of soil and separate their mineral salts.