90 THE BEGINNER'S GARDEN BOOK 



stands clear on the surface. Much more water will be needed 

 for this, since we have not merely wet all the particles, but 

 have filled all the spaces between them. The air is all driven 

 out of the soil. The difference between the different kinds 

 of soil is not great, although still the clay and the manure 

 hold most moisture. Now draw out the plugs and let the 

 extra water run away, noting with the watch how soon the 

 drip becomes very slow. As we should expect, the pot of 

 sandy soil gives off most water, but also gives it off quickest. 

 Left standing overnight, the clay pot may still be dripping in 

 the morning, after the sandy pot has given off all it can. 

 To put this differently, the sandy soil has quickest filled itself 

 with air. 



Sandy soil is, therefore, soon ready after a heavy rain to re- 

 ceive seeds or nourish plants. Clay soils may be a day later. 

 Clay soils are therefore late soils, and sandy soils early. 

 This shows itself especially in spring, when a sandy soil is 

 often ready for planting many days earlier. 



This study of the quickness with which soils lose their 

 extra water shows us why florists put gravel or broken pots at 

 the bottom of flower pots of any size. It is to help the water 

 to drain away. Now in the fields there is usually, under the 

 loam, material that serves the same purpose. The subsoil, 

 the lighter soil which lies under the dark loam, is commonly 

 stony, gravelly, or sandy, and rapidly leads the free water 

 away. But sometimes under a whole field, or parts of it, will 

 lie hardpan or clay, neither of which readily lets water 

 through. Or sometimes springs are so numerous in a field 

 that the subsoil, however good, cannot take the water away. 

 In these cases the loam will be wet, or even swampy. 



When this is the case something must be done to the field 

 in order to lead the water away. That is, it must be drained. 

 Open ditches, which act like brooks, taking the water to a 



