Summer Mectinis. 99 



'.b • 



is the sub-soil deep tillage gives the best results ; if you lack the clay the 

 moisture is retained better, by shallow tillage. A shale soil, which is 

 rich in clay, needs the deep tillage, and sand or ashes help to loosen it. 



There are different means of stirring the soil: First mechanically, 

 by tillage and sub-soiling; second, by nature's methods. By capillary 

 attraction the soluble portions of the soil are transferred, either up or 

 down, dependent on the moisture. Evaporation brings the soluble por- 

 tion near the surface. The earth worms do a vast amount of stirring. 

 It is estimated that they bring up lo tons of earth to an acre and work 

 from 3 to 6 feet in depth. They loosen the soil and correct the sour 

 land. Transportation of streams is another important method employed 

 by nature. For 6,ooo years the Nile has made Egypt a garden spot, 

 and in this country the Mississippi acts much the same. 



There are chemical and physical agents needed to make a soil, and 

 three conditions are necessary for this : 



First, easy penetrability of roots. 



Second, sufficient retentiveness of moisture and fertility, but not too 

 retentive. Washington township has the post oak flats and a too reten- 

 tive soil. 



Third, a sod that will absorb solar heat. The soil needs for this, 

 color and texture. A light color is objectionable, while a black soil goes 

 to the other extreme and dries out too steadily. 



The texture of a soil depends on three substances — silica or sand, 

 clay and humus. The percentage of each for a perfect soil are 6o to So 

 per cent, sand, lo to 30 per cent, clay and 5 to 10 per cent, humus. 



Some soils need correcting or reclaiming to yield good crops. For 

 the sandy pine barrens with clay sub-soil add quick lime. The peaty 

 soil can be reclaimed by careful drainage and the addition of ashes. For 

 the clay soil, under-drainage is a good corrective and the addition of 

 quick lime ashes ; or use deep plowing and .piling in of brush to assist 

 drainage. 



If you are in doubt as to what you need as a fertilizer a good way to 

 teli what is needed is to burn the fruits and analyze the ash and see what 

 it contains. The ash represents the material taken from the soil. 



In digging a well here in Springfield we would pass through a 

 great number of rock. The greater part of the surface rock of Greene 

 county is made up of a coarse crystaline limestone (pure limestone con- 

 tains 98 per cent, carbonate of :ime). This rock alone would not give 

 a very good soil, but just below is a flint rock, which gives the soil its 

 rich and lasting properties. Below the flint is a slate-colored rock called 

 the Lower Burlington, which gives the soil of Washington township. 

 Below this is the Choteau, a yellow rock of sandy limestone. This alone 



