AMONG SCHOOL GARDENS 



from three to ten parts of plant food in solution 

 in one million parts of water, it will be sufficient 

 to support plant life if it is constantly supplied. 

 The process by which the food-laden water enters 

 the root hairs and passes throughout the plant 

 is called ''osmosis". No crop will grow in a 

 sandy soil holding less than 19 per cent of water, 

 or in a clayey one with less than 38 per cent. As 

 the arrangement of the soil particles bears a close 

 relation to the agricultural value of the land, their 

 number (varying in soils of different texture) will 

 indicate in a general way the suitability of the 

 ground for crops.* 



The practical gardener or nurseryman will tell 

 good soil at a glance, or what poor soil needs to 

 improve it. A novice may fmd out by the phys- 

 ical test of earth taken from different parts of the 

 proposed garden site. It is customary to take 

 the earth out by driving a tube from six inches to 

 a foot into the ground. Any kind of a tube, such 

 as an old apple corer, or better, a boy's blow pipe, 

 will do. The steps of the process of testing are as 

 follows: (i) Thoroughly mix the specimens, un- 

 less they are very unlike (if so, test separately). 

 Carefully weigh, noting first the weight of the 

 receptacle (the best kind is an old, shallow tin 



* As an illustration, grass and wheat thrive best in soil having 

 396,900,000,000 grains of clay to the ounce, while corn lands should 

 have from 170,100,000,000 to 198,450,000,000 grains. Fifteen 

 hundred pounds of quicklime to the acre will by its decomposing 

 power {not fertilizing), change wheat or grass lands to corn lands. 

 Such problems do not confront the ordinary school gardener. 



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