STATU POMOLOGICAI, SOCIETY. 12/ 



this Store. More than two hundred years ago, Samuel Hartlib 

 wrote, "Men take him for a fool or a madman that, having 

 store of wealth in his trunk, doth yet complain of want. What 

 though the key be rusty for want of use? 'tis easier to get that 

 scoured than to obtain such another treasure." 



By fining the soil and thus increasing the feeding surface of 

 the roots ; by increasing the depth and thus giving a greater 

 foraging area ; by warming and drying the soil in spring ; and 

 by reducing the extremes of temperature and moisture, the physi- 

 cal condition will be rendered best for the tmlocking of the 

 treasure. 



As already stated, the food materials must be in solution in 

 order to be of use in building up plant tissue. Now the amount 

 of water which falls during the growing season is entirely inad- 

 equate to the growth of plants during that time. For this reason 

 it is important that the water holding capacity of the soil be 

 increased as much as possible, and that some means of checking 

 evaporation be adopted. Both of these conditions are best 

 brought about by tillage. 



Naturally those soils which are most open and most porous, 

 w^hich contain the largest number of spaces between the parti- 

 cles, will retain the moisture to the best advantage, and will 

 give the best opportunity for the roots of plants to penetrate 

 them and take up the moisture there stored, — in the same way 

 that a sponge will take up a larger amount of water than will 

 a block of wood. By deep plowing and thorough w^orking, 

 and the addition of organic matter, this spongy condition desired 

 i.s obtained. 



The effect of an old board, or a log or a stone wall in encour- 

 aging the growth or "-rass or weeds along tne roadside is familiar 

 to all. The reason for this is that the moisture underneath 

 this board, or stone w^all. is unable to escape, except as it is 

 pumped out by means of the roots of the plants. The grass 

 in the open field is dwarfed and stunted because of the exces- 

 sive number of plants crowding one another in the struggle for 

 existence, and the fact that there is nothing to hold the moisture 

 accumulated in the soil. So, in addition to the contmual pump- 

 ing by the plant, there is constant evaporation from the surface 

 of the soil. In order that the best results be obtained, some 

 means must be devised to ^^beck this evaporation, and there is 



