52 



The Florists^ Review 



Apbil 2, 1914. 



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SOILS AND 



PLANT FOOD 



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BEST SOILS FOB FLOBISTS. 



Composition and Properties. 



The various kinds of soils, although 

 differing in different localities in their 

 chemical and physical properties and 

 in their mechanical condition, yet for 

 our purpose may be classified into three 

 groups: Clay soils, sandy soils and 

 loams. 



It is not my intention to speak of 

 the chemical composition of soils, but 

 rather of their physical properties, for 

 these are the properties with which the 

 cultivators of the soil have most to do 

 and in which they are the most inter- 

 ested. The chief physical properties 

 of soils are their absorbing power, both 

 for water and the fertilizing ingredi- 

 ents of manures, their capillary power, 

 •evaporative power, and temperature un- 

 der different conditions. The greater 

 part of all mineral soils consists of 

 sand, clay and lime. As the propor- 

 tions of clay and sand vary in a soil, 

 fio the character and mechanical condi- 

 tions of a soil vary. 



A fertile soil always contains or- 

 ganic matter or humus. Sandy soils — 

 that is, soils in which sand largely pre- 

 dominates — are poor moisture-holders. 

 They have little power of holding fer- 

 tilizing matters. Sand is insoluble in 

 water or the weak acids of the soils, 

 and so a sandy soil supplies no food 

 to plants. But a sandy soil is easy to 

 ■work. A clay soil, on the other hand, 

 holds much water and has power to 

 hold fertilizing matter. Much of the 

 soil is available for plant food, but it 

 is expensive to work. 



Sandy, Clay and Loam Soils. 



Sandy soils are warm soils, because 

 they absorb the sun 's heat more readily 

 than clay soils. Great care has to be 

 exercised in applying manures to sandy 

 soils to prevent waste by leaching, and 

 often specials-manures have to be used. 



Clay soils, or soils containing much 

 clayj are cold on account of the amount 

 of water held in suspension, and often 

 ure .benefited by draining. Clay soils 

 have the power of holding, both me- 

 «hanically alid chemically, many of the 

 fertilizing ingredients of manures. 

 Hence there is little fear of loss of 

 t'ertiliziag matter from such soils. 



Clay soils often contain what are 

 termed double silfeales of alumina, 

 consisting of a;'.^S<(pi5ination of silica 

 and alumina wrQx^" either soda, lime, 

 potash or ammoniifr. These double sili 

 cates not only act as holders of fertil- 

 izing matters, but are capable, under 

 certain conditions, of supplying plants 

 with food. 



When a soil contains about equal 

 parts of sand and clay it is generally 

 of a fertile character, and known as a 



This paper was prep^^d by W. G. Gomersal], 

 of Nyack, N. Y., and met with such approval 

 that It has been read before a numl>er of horti- 

 cultural societies In the east. 



loam soil. It is not so hot and dry as 

 a sandy soil, or so wet and cold as a 

 clay soil. It has the power, too, of 

 holding fertilizers and is suitable for 

 growing any crop. If twenty per cent 

 of lime is present in a loam soil it is 

 known as a calcareous loam. 



If a soil contains much lime, it is 

 usually dry and warm, free of drainage 

 and capable of producing good crops, 

 especially of grass and the legumes, 

 which include peas, beans, clover and 

 alfalfa. Such a soil produces good root 

 crops and .good crops of vegetables in 

 general. 



Action of Moisture in Soil. 



Some soils possess, in a marked de- 

 gree, the power of absorbing moisture 

 from the air. After a hot day the soil 

 has become hot and dry. During the 

 night this heat is given off, and the 

 air in contact with the cooled soil be- 

 comes cool also, and gives up its vapor. 

 This vapor is absorbed by the soil, and 

 such soils may often bear, through a 

 hot season, rich, green herbage, while 

 upon other soils not possessing this 

 power the grass and crops fail. Sandy 

 soils possess this absorbing property 

 least; clay absorbs much more, and 

 peaty soils, or soils with much humus, 



still more. The following are the 

 quantities of water absorbed in twelve 

 hours by 1,000 pounds of different kinds 

 of soil: Sand, one and one-half pounds 

 of water; loam, twenty pounds; clay, 

 thirty -five pounds; peaty soil, forty 

 pounds. 



Soils have also the power of absorb- 

 ing oxygen and other gases from the 

 air. 



If a number of small, clean tubes be 

 placed in colored water, the liquid will 

 be seen to rise in them; the smaller the 

 tube, the higher it rises. This phenom- 

 enon is called capillary attraction. By 

 the same property water rises from a 

 saucer in which is a plant, and through 

 the soil to thie plant's roots. A similar 

 action takes place in the soil. If the 

 particles of soil be large, then the pas- 

 sages or tubes are large. Consequently 

 the water will not rise so high as when 

 the particles of soil are small. Vege- 

 table matter or humus assists the capil- 

 lary attraction of a soil. Peaty soils 

 may even hold too much, by being a 

 perfect sponge. Clay soils possess this 

 property in a greater degree than san- 

 dy soils. This capillary power of a 

 soil assists in a marked degree in 

 supplying moisture to plants, and food 

 in solution, during long periods of 

 drought. Subsoiling and deep cultiva- 

 tion help considerably this capillary 

 action. 



Evaporation from the Soil. 



Some soils lose water by evaporation 

 much sooner than others; the greater 

 the amount of sand in the soil, the 

 more rapidly the moisture evaporates. 

 Sandy soils, besides having small capil- 

 lary action, rapidly lose the little water 

 they gain that way. Grass and plants, 

 in dry, hot seasons, are soon burned 



The New French Hydrangeas will Jump into Wide Popularity for Easter. 



