CLASS AND CONDITION OF SOILS. 465 



in badly tilled soils where the staple has not been suffi- 

 ciently reduced, or where the manure has been placed 

 too close to the surface, and too recently before the time 

 of sowing. In shallow soils, the growth soon becomes 

 stunted, the tap-root having no range downwards into 

 the rich mineral stores of the subsoil, loses its vigour, 

 and the plant usually throws out numerous smaller 

 roots, in order to compensate for this loss of its usual 

 purveyor; and where stones or other obstacles are met 

 with by the root of the young plant, it either is 

 stopped altogether in its growth, or the root is either 

 encouraged to fork or is forced aside more or less abruptly; 

 the tissues are unnaturally compressed and restricted in 

 their development, and the root, owing to its irregular 

 growth, is generally broken when being removed from its 

 bed. In imperfectly tilled soils much the same conditions 

 of growth are exhibited the buried clods, or indurated 

 lumps of earth, producing Veil-nigh the same effect as 

 stones on the roots of the young plant, which always has 

 an increased tendency to fork and throw out lateral roots 

 when the manure, especially if it be in a fresh state, has 

 been applied at the time of sowing. In that case the 

 root is apt to extend itself in the direction where it finds 

 the most ready supply of food, instead of following its 

 natural habit of searching for it low down in the subsoil, 

 which, indeed, is one of the properties that, both in a 

 chemical and physical point of view, render the carrot 

 such a valuable crop in our rotations. 



This habit of deep growth renders another condition 

 absolutely necessary in the soil, and that is freedom from 

 stagnant water. As long as the tap-root can roam in a 

 substratum of soil to which the rain-water, can have 

 regular access, it is always sure to meet with supplies of 

 food suitable for its purpose, as the rain-water percolat- 

 ing through the surface soil carries with it not only the 



