IMPROVING SANDY SOILS 37 



sand, old plaster, coal ashes, sawdust, almost anything coarse or 

 gritty which will break up the close adherence of the fine clay parti- 

 cles, release the surplus water and let in the air, will produce a 

 marked effect in reducing the hateful baking and cracking, root- 

 tearing and moisture-losing behavior of the adobe. Scrape the cor- 

 rals, rake up the leaves and fine litter of all kinds, make the adobe 

 garden patch the graveyard for all the rubbish which is suceptible 

 of decay. The farm will be neater and the garden will pay the ex- 

 pense in its easier working and better growth. Do this every year 

 before the rains come and you will rejoice that you had an adobe 

 foundation for the farm garden. 



The Improvement of Light, Sandy Soils. This effort is in 

 some cases more difficult than conquering adobe. It all depends 

 upon the coarseness of the sand and the subsoil upon which it rests. 

 If soil and subsoil are coarse sand or gravel to a considerable depth, 

 some fruit trees may thrive, but shallow rooting plants will fail un- 

 less they can finish their growth during the rainy season. Summer 

 growth is impossible because water will flow through their sieve-like 

 structure and carry away plant food with it. With moisture leach- 

 ing away below and flying away above, and with intense sun heat 

 burning the foliage by direct contact and reflection, such wash soils 

 are indescribably worse than adobe. But this condemation should 

 not be rashly applied. The reference is to soils very coarse in char- 

 acter which have the appearance of washed sand and gravel. Other- 

 wise it may be a soil carried from the surface of the hillsides by 

 the eroding streams, and, if composed of reasonably fine materials, 

 in addition to sand and gravel, should have plenty of plant food for 

 a time at least. The chief difficulty will lie in maintaining moisture 

 for shallow rooting plants. Obviously such soils are best suited for 

 winter growth, for they are "warm and early" when situated out 

 of frosty places. 



Sandy soils which are imposed upon clay or hardpan, provid- 

 ing the underlying stratum is not alkaline, furnish very promising 

 garden material, even though the layer be too shallow for the 

 growth of trees. Many fruit growers are struggling to maintain 

 trees on such spots in their orchards when they should forsake the 

 effort and by adequate use of water and manure turn such spots into 

 family gardens. The holding of water near the surface, which is 

 fatal to tree roots, is the opportunity for the growth of most vege- 

 tables. Depth of soil which is so strongly insisted upon in treatises 

 on gardening, constitutes a storehouse of moisture and plant food, 

 but it has been abundantly demonstrated that depth is not essential 

 provided the plant is otherwise fed and watered. California gar- 

 dens proceeding upon rainfall alone, need a deep, retentive soil ; the 

 irrigated garden may thrive upon a soil too coarse to be retentive 

 providing it has a tight bottom to hold moisture within reach of 

 shallow rooting plants. Therefore reclaim such sand by providing 

 a home water supply, if not in an irrigated region, and use plenty 



