SOIL AND FERTILIZATION 



No one would attempt to go into the banking 

 business without first learning something of the 

 principles of banking; no one would apply for 

 admittance to the bar without first fitting himself 

 for pleading; and no one would go into the ship- 

 building industry without a knowledge of the 

 principles on which ships are built. Yet almost 

 anyone feels himself competent to start a garden 

 and grow vegetables without giving agriculture 

 much thought. If he sticks a few plants in the 

 soil and they chance to grow and flourish he 

 thinks he has the gift of gardening. Well, garden- 

 ing is a gift, but success does not depend so much 

 upon a gift for gardening as it does upon a gift 

 for detail and perseverance. Vegetables must be 

 studied. Every plant is, on a smaller scale, de- 

 serving of as much attention as every individual. 

 Plants vary widely in their requirements, and the 

 condition of the soil is the first thing to be studied 

 when planting the garden. Nitrogenous food, 



100 



