CHAPTER III 



An Ideal Soil or Seed Bed 



Exam ne the balls of earth prepared 

 in Chapter 2. Of the three made of 

 sana, humus and clay, which has the 

 greatest power of holding its particles 

 together": Which would be the most 

 liable to bake? To puddle? What ef- 

 fect did the humus and clay have on 

 the sand? What effect did the sand 

 have on the humus and clay? What 

 effect did the lime have on the clay? 



Sand — We have learned that sand is 

 hea\y in weight, but lifeat to plow; 

 that the particles are large, admitting 

 much a r; that it is warm in tempera- 

 ture; that water runs through it rap- 

 idly and does not climb back very far, 

 and that it loosens clay. 



Clay — We have learned that clay is 

 heavy to plow; that the particles are 

 small; that it is cold; that water runs 

 through it slowly and climbs back 

 many feet; that it holds water well; 

 that it contains plant food; that it 

 binds sand together, and that it packs 

 and puddles when alone. 



Humus — We have learned that hu- 

 mus binds sand particles and loosens 

 clay particles; that it is cold; that it 

 contains ' plant food; that it holds 

 water. 



An Ideal Soil — Knowing these things 

 about sand, clay and humus, let us 

 see what an ideal soil should be and 

 how it can be made. 



Soil a Reservoir for Water — Clay and 

 humus hold water best. Most of the 

 soil water comes from rain which does 

 not fall regularly, so an ideal soil must 

 receive and hold water to supply the 

 plants during dry weather. Usually 

 there is enough clay in soil. Humus 

 may be added by stirring in dry cow's 

 manure or horse manure. Sometimes 

 clovers are grown and plowed under. 



Soil Must Be Warm — Soil which is 

 too clayey in nature not only packs, 

 but is too cold for plant growth. Such 

 a soil is loosened and made warm by 

 adding sand. 



Soil Must Be Porous — Clayey soils are 

 loosened by adding humus and sand. 

 A sandy soil is too porous and dries out 

 too quickly. Humus absorbs and holds 

 moisture and thus would improve it. 



Soil Must Contain Plant Food — A 

 sandy soil contains little food, as you 

 will learn later. Humus added to such 

 a soil improves it. 



An Ideal Soil — An ideal soil should 

 contain enough clay and humus to 

 hold water and to lead it toward the 

 surface. It should contain enough hu- 

 mus and clay to furnish food for plants. 

 There should be enough sand to make 

 the soil porous and warm, and finally, 

 as you will learn, such a soil must 

 contain minute plants — bacteria. 



Good Soil Necessary for Plant 

 Growth — Before starting your garden 

 at school or at home, examine the soil 

 to see if it needs treatment. If plants 

 are growing well near or in the soil 

 where the garden is to be, it probably 

 will not need especial care. 

 Questions 



1. What change is made in a clayey 

 soil when sand is added? 



2. How would you improve a sandy 

 soil? 



3. How would you add plant food to 

 a clayey soil? 



4. What is the need of air and water 

 in soil? 



5. How might humus be added to 

 soil? 



6. How does the farmer work adobe, 

 or clayey soil i 



7. Name a method used by the farm- 

 er to loosen clayey soil without adding 

 sand. 



Home Studies. 



1. What is the average rainfall of 

 your d. strict? Is irrigation necessary? 



2. Observe young plants in the morn- 

 ing. Where does the moisture come 

 from? What is dew? 



3. Is there any way to prevent loss 

 of water through "transpiration"? 

 What effect have weeds on soil mois- 

 ture? 



4. Find out how much water is lost 

 by an acre of corn or wheat. 



5. Make a collection of soils found 

 in the neighborhood. Make a physical 

 analysis of each (see Chapter I, exer- 

 cise 1). Note the plants growing in 

 each different kind of soil. Make a 

 list of plants best suited to sandy soil; 

 to clayey soil. 



6. Would dry soil make brick? 



7. Notice the difference in color be- 

 tween hillside and valley land. Why 

 is this? 



8. What has been done by the farm- 

 ers in your vicinity to make an ideal 

 soil? 



The Cottony Cushion Scale 



FLORA LANFRI, 

 Eighth Grade, Niles School. 



Once upon a time, there came into 

 California, some small, smooth, white 

 insects called the cottony cushion 

 scales. These insects stayed on lemon 

 and orange trees and had come over 

 from Australia. The growth of these 

 insects spread so fast that all these 

 lemon and orange trees had begun to 

 die. 



When the people of California saw 

 all these trees in such a bad condition, 

 they wondered what could have hap- 

 pened them, so later they found out 

 that it was the cottony cushion seal 13 

 that had snread so fast. Now they 

 wondered how they could get rid of 

 them, so some one went over to Aus- 

 tralia to get sc^ie other insect, which 

 was its check. So they found out that 

 an insect, called the lady bird, was its 

 check. They got these lady birds into 

 California, and at last, they got rid of 

 these cottonv cushion scales. 



An Experiment I Tried 



JOHN GRANT, 



East Oakland. Franklin school. Fifth 



A Grade. 



I took a bottle of red ink and a 

 yellowish rose and put the rose in the 

 ink to see what would happen. In a 

 little while the veins of the rose petals 

 became red. 



Then I took a white chrysanthemum 

 to do the same with. It made a 

 better looking flower. It was osmosis 

 that drew the ink up into the petals. 



Communications should be sent to 



C. A. STEBBINS, Editor 



Agricultural Education Division 



