CHAPTER SIX 



THE SOIL OF THE GARDEN 



Every clod feels a stir of might, 

 An instinct that reaches and towers, 

 And, groping blindly above it for light, 

 Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers. 



JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 



THE roots of garden plants live in the soil. The 

 fineness or coarseness of the soil, its looseness or compact- 

 ness, its temperature, the food materials and the water 

 present all these influence the life and activity of the 

 roots. Sometimes, an excess of substances like acids 

 or alkalies is present ; and the activities of animals 

 and plants which live within the soil may benefit or harm 

 the plant. The gardener can, in a large degree, control 

 the conditions of the soil, and much of his success de- 

 pends on his making them suitable to the needs of the 

 plants that he grows. 



In all his efforts to handle and improve the soil 

 for the growing of his crops, the gardener needs to have 

 in mind three points relating to the condition of the 

 soil: 



(1) The size and arrangement of soil particles, which 

 we may refer to as the soil's physical condition. 



(2) The richness in the various food materials which 

 plants obtain from it. 



(3) The amount and kind of water present in the 

 soil and the soil's ability to hold water and supply it to 

 the plant. 1 



While these conditions are closely interrelated, they 

 may be considered quite separately. 



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