CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL. 



85 



r 



Mineral fertilizers such as gypsum, lime, salt, 

 etc., may be used on a soil that is well supplied with 

 \-egetable matter to change it into available plant 

 food quickly; but as these are only stimulants and 

 contain little plant food in themselves, their con- 

 tinued use exhausts the soil of its supplies of vege- 

 table matter, and the result is a more rapid and 

 complete exhaustion of fertility. 



Without humus the soil loses its retaining power, 

 and when these mineral fertilizers are dissolved they 

 either evaporate or leach down beyond the reach of 

 most plants. 



Science has proved that there is sufficient mineral 

 matter in all ordinary soil to supph' the necessary 

 amount of phosphates required in growing crops for 

 hundreds of years, provided a systematic rotation of 

 crops is followed whereby clovers or some other 

 deep-rooted plants are grown every third or fourth 

 year to penetrate the subsoil and act on the crude 

 mineral matter, making a certain portion available 

 for plant food to supply the following grain and 

 other crops forming the rotation. 



The practical florist can give in a lesson the 

 value of humus. He understands that the best soil 

 he can use for growing plants successfully is rotten 

 sod, and none is better than the original sod from 

 land that has not been plowed or mixed in any way 

 with the crude subsoil. The florist cuts this sod 

 three or four inches thick, piles it up for a time and 

 then turns it over frequently, thereby exposing it to 

 heat, air and moisture — the three essentials for rot- 

 ting vegetable matter. After the sods are thor- 

 oughly rotted and mixed with decomposed farmyard 

 manure, they are ready for use, and flower pots may 

 be filled and the plants set in them and watered. 

 The plants will grow and develop perfectly with 



Mineral 

 Fertilizers 

 Only 

 Stimulate. 



Liquid 



Minerals are 

 Lost without 

 Humus. 



Exhaustless 

 Quantities of 

 Mineral 

 Matter. 



Value of 

 Native Sod. 



