CHILDREN'S GARDENS 163 



The gardener must .plan to obtain this water, either 

 from rain or irrigation. 



3. Puddling. Experiment to teach the danger of 

 working wet soil: Take three flowerpots full of dry 

 soil. Stand two in a basin of water until thoroughly 

 wet. Do not touch the soil in one, but empty one of 

 them into a basin, and with a stick or the hand, mix 

 it thoroughly for several minutes, and then replace 

 in the flowerpot. Set them aside to dry for a few 

 days. When quite dry, take the earth out of the pots, 

 and note how much harder and lumpier is the soil 

 that was worked wet. Put the dry soil of the third 

 pot in a basin, and thoroughly mix and replace. It 

 will be found that working a dry soil does not make 

 it stick together, as it does a wet soil. 



4. To save water in the soil Mulches. Take 

 three wooden boxes, exactly alike. Put the same 

 weight of dry soil in each. Wet the soil of each thor- 

 oughly with the same quantity of water. 



They should each weigh the same, after they have 

 stood twenty-four hours. 



Cultivate the top of one box for a depth of two 

 inches, and repeat every day, keeping the top two 

 inches loose and fine and dry. 



Press the top of another box firmly each day. 



Let the third one remain untouched. 



Every twenty- four hours weigh the boxes, and keep 

 a record of the weights. 



The loss of water will be faster, if exposed to 



