30 HORTICULTURE LECT. n 



You may be told here that plants do not feed on 

 soil any more than bees feed on flowers. Bees take 

 the honey and leave the flowers, and crops take what 

 is honey to them out of the soil food and leave 

 the vessel the earth that contains it. 



It is the duty of the cultivator to render the soil 

 fit for receiving and holding food for crops, and here 

 comes the question of good management in mixing 

 and working. 



The mixing of soils is often a matter of very great 

 importance. Take the two extremes, the two bases, 

 of soil, sand as the drier and freer ; clay as the 

 heavier and more adhesive. 



Neither pure clay alone nor pure sand alone is 

 capable of supporting growth. We may see plants 

 or crops growing in what appears to be sand in one 

 place or clay in another, but that is because they ar6 

 not pure, but really mixed, and therefore contair 

 some at least of the elements of fertility. 



The best of soil is loam, and loam is composed o 

 sand and clay in differing proportions. Take, s 

 100 ounces of any given soil and thoroughly diffus 

 it in a cistern or tub of water. In a few minutes th 

 sand will fall to the bottom but the clay will remaii 

 suspended. If the water be now run off and evapoi 

 ated by boiling, the clay may then be compared wit 

 the sand. 



If the sand is present to the extent of over eight 

 per cent, it is a sandy soil. If from sixty to eighty 

 sandy loam, if from forty to fifty a typical loam ; : 

 from twenty to forty a clayey loam, and if thei 

 is less than twenty per cent, of sand the soil is calle 

 clay. 



Soil to serve its purposes well must be deeply stirre 

 and well pulverized. It must admit air yet hoi 

 moisture. If too porous it cannot retain moisture- 



