82 The Principles of Vegetable -Gardening 



The best soils are of a friable and loamy texture ; the worst, 

 those of a very light sandy or of a stiff clayey description. 

 Robert Buist, The Family Kitchen Gardener, 5. 



The soil for growing vegetables and seeds should be as 

 near as possible a deep loam ; it may be more or less sandy, but 

 avoid clay, or anything heavier than a clay loam. Francis Brill, 

 Farm -Gardening and Seed -Growing, New Ed., 11. 



Earth of a consistence that will hold water the longest 

 without becoming hard when dry, is of all others, the best adapted 

 for raising the generality of plants in the greatest perfection. 

 This last described soil is called loam, and is a medium earth, 

 between the extremes of clay and sand. Bridgeman, Young 

 Gardener's Assistant, Seventh Ed., 10. 



Garden vegetables, as a rule, will thrive best, other things 

 being equal, on a deep, sandy loam, with an open sub -soil. 

 Almost any character of soil, with the exception of pure clay, 

 can be brought up to a high state of fertility by adopting the 

 proper methods. P. T. Quinn, Money in the Garden, 14. 



The soil should be a warm, sandy loam. T. Greiner, How 

 to Make the Garden Pay, Second Ed., 30. 



Sandy loam, with a sandy or gravelly sub -soil should be 

 selected. Such land is far better than soils resting on clay, not 

 only because its nature is warmer, but because it is naturally 

 well drained. A clay sub-soil, at least until deep drains have 

 been sunk and operated a considerable time, will render any 

 land cold, as it retains the moisture. W. W. Eawson, Success in 

 Market- Gardening, 12. 



If in the selection of the land, one is confined to a single 

 soil, he should select one consisting of a mixture of organic and 

 inorganic matter ; a light, deep, sandy loam, with plenty of 

 humus or vegetable matter. A. Oemler, Truck -Farming at the 

 South, 10. 



The soil may be anything but brick clay, theoretically a 

 light, sandy loam is best, but here, again, astonishing results are 

 often obtained on forbidding soils; for instance, on sticky red 

 clays and sands, the latter seemingly no better than those of 



