Gardening 



them finely granular. 

 It tends to break up 

 compact, coarsely lumpy 

 soils. Finally, lime in 

 soil increases the activ- 

 ity of certain bacteria 

 which cause organic 

 matter to decay and 

 break down into plant 

 foods. 



Thus lime, both di- 

 rectly and indirectly, 

 benefits garden plants in 

 many ways, and its 

 moderate application 

 will improve most gar- 

 den soils. 



A rich soil needed 

 for the garden. Often 

 the home vegetable gar- 

 den is small and the 

 main aim is to produce 

 as much food as possible 

 from it. A very fertile soil is necessary for this kind 

 of intensive gardening; for it is a well-known fact 

 that many soils that will produce fair field crops will 

 yield only meager crops of certain vegetables. This is 

 largely because most garden crops are heavy feeders, 

 requiring especially large amounts of nitrogen and 

 potassium. To yield abundantly they must grow on a 

 soil that supplies them plentifully with these materials. 



FIG. 44. Effect of lime on the growth of 

 roots. These Swiss chard plants were 

 planted at the same time and each had 

 the same growing conditions, except that 

 lime was added to the acid soil in which 

 the plant at the left was grown. 



