THE SECRETAKY'S PORTFOLIO. 197 



SCIENCE OF SHADING THE SOIL. 



Professor S. A. Kuapp, of the Iowa Agricultural College, gives this summary 

 of the science of mulching : 



"The value of covering the soil has been known so long and so commonly 

 as to become a proverb, 'Snow is the poor man's manure.' Science and 

 experiment have shown what is beneficial iu winter is even more advantageous 

 in summer, and that few things can be more harmful than to denude the 

 soil and allow it thus to remain for a length of time. They have demonstrated 

 that the soil is increased in fertility by covering much more than the amount 

 of material placed on the ground as a mulch. 1. A large amount of atmos- 

 pheric ammonia deposited by the rains is retained. 2. A certain proportion 

 of water in the soil is necessary to the best conditions for chemical action, to 

 make the largest amount of plant food available and to enable the fibrous 

 roots of plants to feed to the best advantage; mulching retards evaporation. 

 3. Our torrid suns acting upon the black prairie soil produce an amount of 

 heat injurious to the fibrous roots of many plants; mulching cools and equal- 

 izes the temperature near the surface. 4. Sudden extremes of temperature 

 affect plants, as animals, unfavorably; mulching equalizes condition, retards 

 the action of frosting and allows the plant to adapt itself to the change. 

 o. Mechanically it breaks the force of the rains and prevents them from com- 

 pacting the soil. Other advantages might be named." 



THE NURSERY. 



PROPAGATING VIRGINIA CREEPER. 



Josiah Hoopes gives the following bit of counsel : The best way to raise a 

 stock of Ampelop.'<is quinqu-efoUa quickly is to collect the seeds and sow at 

 once in a sheltered spot, covering slightly with light sandy soil and protecting 

 the surface of tlie bed with any coarse litter. If sown in an ordinary cold 

 frame and protected with broad shutters, as many nurserymen do, the evil effects 

 of too much dampness will be guarded against. Another plan to raise young 

 plants is by means of hardwood cuttings in the open ground. Sections of the 

 present season's growth should be cut into lengths of say six inches with a bud 

 near the top, and when available close to the bottom, always selecting sound 

 and well matured wood. These should be placed in a sloping trench with the 

 tops immediately above the surface of the soil, and as the latter is filled in be 

 very careful to tramp it firm, as more depends upon this little feature of the 

 process than anything else. After smoothing off the surface of the bed cover 

 it with a thin coating of long, strawy manure or other suitable mulch, and 

 early in the spring this should be partially removed to allow the young plants 

 to grow properly. Plants raised by either of these methods will be found 



