40 VEGETABLE GROWING. 



space, the tilling of the soil acts as a kind of a regula- 

 tor ; it makes soggy land drier and dry land to con- 

 serve the moisture in it. A cultivated soil can hold 

 more water without being soggy than one that is not 

 tilled; in a sudden shower a plowed field will retain 

 all the water and give the roots of plants a chance to 

 absorb the fertilizer before it is carried off. Much of 

 our sandy land allows the fertilizer to be leached out 

 by the rains and retains not even a trace in the soluble 

 form ; but if this water were retained in the soil the 

 fertilizer would be retained also. The amount of water 

 a soil can retain depends upon the constituent particles 

 of that soil. 



