io THE SOIL, ITS NATURE AND PREPARATION [CH. 



The soil of the garden is, as I have said, the larder 

 which holds the food for the crops ; it has indeed a double 

 use it gives anchorage to the roots, and it holds the 

 materials for the support of their growth. 



It is not an uncommon error to suppose that our plants 

 feed on the soil of the garden just as, I daresay, some 

 people think that bees feed on the flowers of the garden ; 

 as a fact, bees take the honey, but they leave the flowers 

 intact. Crops take what is to them the honey, and the 

 earth remains to have itself refilled with new food for 

 future crops, and the cultivator's office is to see how 

 he shall best render the soil of his garden fit for receiving 

 and holding the food of his plants. 



Now there are two extremes of soil which are 

 equally unfit to support vegetable life, and that for opposite 

 reasons. 



The two extremes are sand and clay. Neither in its 

 purity is in the least capable of supporting or growing 

 a plant. Sand is like a sieve, all nutritive matter runs 

 out of it directly, while clay is like a metal pot, or a 

 swamp, sealed against air, and with no means of outlet, 

 and there can therefore be no sweetening process and no 

 growth in it. 



The ideal garden soil is loam that is, a composition of 

 sand and clay in varying proportions. 



Before we can decide, therefore, on the proper treatment 



for our garden, we must satisfy ourselves as to which sort 



of loam our garden is composed of. In a rough way, most 



eople can guess the quality and composition of their 



