SUCCESS IN MARKET GARDENING 



into the crevices, and the water (of rains) passes 

 through it from above. We will suppose that the 

 water comes to a stratum that is impervious to its 

 onward course. What happens? Simply this: 

 it dams up slowly, inch by inch, forcing out the 

 air as it rises. All motion and circulation is 

 stopped. Fermentation and decomposition soon 

 begin. The earth is drowned out suffocated 

 dead for want of air. Water is good for the 

 ground ? Yes ; but not in this way. The water 

 must be moving constantly. There must be a 

 current of air and w r ater, and not too much or 

 too little of the latter." 



The processes of pulverization, which will be 

 described under the title "Preparation of the Soil," 

 are such as to provide for the admission of the air. 

 We shall now consider, in the remainder of the 

 present chapter, by what means we may supply 

 the needful amount of the other indispensable 

 element, water. By drainage we provide for the 

 removal of a surplus, whether from rains or 

 springs; our next care must be for supply and 

 distribution of a quantity adequate, in the longest 

 and severest droughts, to the exacting needs of 

 the growing crops. This supply and dis- 



[18] 



