BOOK OF THE HOME GARDEN 



Remember, humus is some plant, or part of a 

 plant, that has rotted, and it holds moisture like a 

 sponge. If you will walk into the woods and dig 

 down, you will see just what I mean; the soil is 

 always moist, and it is dark with decayed vegeta- 

 tion. Plants like this better than anything else, 

 because it is the food Nature made for them. So 

 get humus into your garden if you can. 



There is another thing about soils that we must 

 know, and that is whether they are sour or not. 

 Most plants do not like sour soil. It is very easy 

 to find this out. Go to the drug store and ask for 

 one cent's worth of blue litmus paper. It comes in 

 a little narrow strip. Take some moist soil from 

 your garden in your hand, or put it in a cup, bury 

 the piece of paper in it and leave fifteen minutes. 

 If, when you take it out of the soil, it has turned 

 pink your garden soil is sour, and you must spread 

 on it some lime or wood ashes, and rake them in. A 

 bushel of either on a garden 50 feet square is suf- 

 ficient. After a few days, test your soil again, and 

 if the litmus paper stays blue your soil is sweet. 

 Be sure and use air slaked, "hydrated" or agricul- 

 tural lime (all words of the same meaning) ; quick 

 lime would burn things, and the wood ashes should 

 be unleached. It is queer how many things we do not 



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