PREPARATION or I.ANh I* Hi rHK SEKI> 1 49 



'A. I lie I'n/xiriiK/ oj llu: Sfcd-hiil 



2r)(». X.'arly all plants thrive best wlu'ii I'lir- 

 nislu'd with a full and continuttiis siH)|>ly of 

 moisture, I'^inc, loose earth, whieh contains a 

 nu^derat*' a(hnixtui-e of humus, is capahle of 

 holdinu: mueii moisture (7.*{, 74); l)ut tli«^ soil 

 may he so h)ose and li.i^ht as to admit too 

 ra|>id nio\emeiit of air, in whieh ease the mois- 

 ture will he eari'ied away. If the particles of 

 eartii are separated too widely, capillarity is 

 weakened. In such cases the subsurface soil 

 sliould he slijj:htly compacted, while one to tliree 

 inches of the surface is left loose to form an 

 earth-muh'h, which tends to prev<Mit loss of 

 moisture hy evajH)ration. The particles of the 

 loose surface earth-nnilch should he so widely 

 separated that the moisture can climb only to 

 th«- bottom of it, tor if it comes to the surface 

 the air will carry it away (83), The i'aith-ninli-li 

 shades the irround in which the jtlant-^ are ;^m-ow- 

 injj, prevents the soil from crackiiiir. and saves 

 moisture. 



•J.')l. The see<l-be<l shouhi contain n<i free 

 wat'-r ; but it is impossible to secure this con- 

 ditiou at all times. No serious harm may <'ome 

 whe!i the soil is over-saturated at plantintc time, 

 if the free water is <|uickiy removed. If the 

 soil contains more water than it can hold bv 



