10 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



AruiL 4, 1012. 



-" II— -^r- 



3C 



i lS^^A^w^-r^^ft r- 



3C 



T " ir 



SOILS; WHAT THEY ^ 

 j^ CONTAIN AND DO 



DC 



3C 



DC 



3C 



DC 



A ROSE GROWER'S NOTES. 



The Origin of Soil. 



W'li.'it is soil.' Siiil i^ \]]o lumio of llif 

 ;'<iol'< iif tin' ]>l;iiil. Soil is tlio stoi'c- 

 llOUSc fill' IllMt \>:iY[ 111' tlic fonil \vliich 

 llic jil.-iiit 1;il\('> ill tluMU^h its I'ools. 

 Soil is llic Inlioi ;i1(ii y, or l;it('lHMi. AviiiMO 

 tile foiicl is ]ii ('iiai'(>'l. And tliis woik 

 :^(ii's 11)1 iiiK'casiiiu'lv. 1-as-tly, soil is a 

 supiMii-t til lioM tlic plant finnjv in its 

 plarc' 



I'.nt \\liat is soil? Sr>il is fiiii'ly di- 

 \i<lp'l lorl;, as can lir icailily scon ■with 

 a inicrosciipc. clay liciiiLif the finest and 

 saiiil aiiil ji'iax'cl t!ie coavsc>t of the 

 iii\isi(ins. In between the sand and the 

 clay \\t> ha\-e what ari> lienerallv known 

 .as loamy sand, sandy loam, loam, clayev 

 loam and h^amy ola\'. These divisions 

 are based iii>on tlie sizi> of tlie soil 

 strains .and the difVevent ]>ercentages of 

 I'ach size in ;i yiven soil. They are, 

 of cimi-se, not arliit raiily fixed, there 

 heinc; iiiiimmliered \'ariations of soils. 



Now. if we coii'-ider soils as broken 

 and discomposed roik. the lirst question 

 That comes to our minds is: How aTid 

 when were the roeks which originally 

 covcied the face of the earth converted 

 into soil ? Certainly ac;es and ages be- 

 foie man apjieared on tlio earth. In 

 fact, before .animal life of any kind 

 could exist there mast lun'o beeu vege- 

 tation; anil \egetation of tlu^ higher 

 forms could not exist on bare rock. 

 I'ndiably the coniinencenient of the dis- 

 integr.ation was coincident with the ap- 

 p(>ariince of jd.ant life in the lowest 

 form. 



(u'ologists tell us that the eartli was 

 • )iici- ;i molten mass; also, that the water 

 which now com]ioses the o-'cans was 

 jirobaldy in tlie form of a dense vapor 

 which surrounded the red-hot eartii. 

 Natur.illy. the i ai'th began to cool and, 

 as it cooled, it contracted. The result 

 of this -WHS that tlie surl'ace su]iside<l 

 in some ](laces and wrinkled in others, 

 thus ]U(iiiucing thi' sea basins, \alleys 

 .and hilN. AVhen the surface liad 

 corded siilHcient ly (and this cooling was 

 iiasteiied by the vapor in tlio air) the 

 \',apor cnndi'iised and fell as rain or 

 sniiw. ami thus beg.aii to wear or weath- 

 er the lock. I'rost and heat assisted 

 till' water ill disintegrating and break- 

 ing up till' surfjice. Some time after 

 the -iiii'ace h.ad cooled sufficiently, 

 \egetati(tn began its existence. First 

 came almo-t niicrnscopif forms, the 

 musses ami licliens which ;ire able to 

 extr.act nourishment friuii iilmo'-^t any 

 I'lick. Tlie-e by their deatli and decay 

 formed a thin lilm of vegetable matter 

 on the rncl; and a stronger growth took 

 pl.ace. which in turn died, decayed and 

 g;i\e way to a still stmnger and higher 

 fnrm of vegetation; and so on till grass, 

 siirubs ;ind e\(Mi trees were able to ex- 

 ist. This dei'.ayed vegetable matter in 

 the soil is called humii-. And this hu- 



A ii;ii>('r by Alfred Rurtdn, ri^o ^Tinvcr, rcnil I 

 hcl.irc llic llorists' Club cl' riiil:iilcl|ilii:i, April L', 



mus heljis to disintegrate the rock by 

 hiildiiig moisture and by sujiplyiug acids 

 wliich increase the solvent ])owers of 

 the water on the rock. Wlien a soil 

 contains iiuieh of this humus it is called 

 a vegetalile mold. l\icli garden soils 

 are good representatives of this class. 

 A soil that contains vegetable matter 

 that lias only ])artly decomposed under 

 water is called a ]H>aty soil. Such soils 

 are found in swamps and liog.s and are 

 generally sour and need to be aerated 

 and limed before using. 



Importance of Humus. 



While organic matter, or humus, is 

 by no means indisjiensable to plant life, 

 and though it is a debatable cpiestion 

 whether ]dants derive any nourishment 

 from it direct, it is of great importance 

 ill enabling the soil to hold water, in 

 making the soil more friable and easily 

 worked, and in supplying carbonic acid, 

 Avhicli feeds the jilant and acts on the 

 soil, dissolving and making available 

 other foods, such as soda, potash and 

 magnesium, which are held in an insol- 

 uble state in the soil. Ilumus also 

 gives the ilark color to the soil, which 

 enables it to absorb the heat rays of 

 the sun more readily and thus warm 

 up more (juickly in the spring. 



True clay is composed of silicate of 

 .alumina, but the term clay in agricul- 

 ture is emidoyed rather loosely, being 

 given to soils that contain a large 

 ]ierceutage of impalpable rock dust with 

 little of the true clay present. Some 

 authorities give the following percent- 

 age comjiosition of the various soils: 

 Cl.ay or 

 iinpiilinilile iiiulter. Saml. 



llcnvv cl.iv 7." to an'; 10 to L'.'C'p 



Chiv 'icniii (!<) to 7r)':'« 2o to 40'~'„ 



I.o.Liii 40 to (ill' o -10 to (KC'r 



Sllllily lc.;llll 2.") lo ■ll>''o CiO to T.'C'r 



I,i:;lit SMMilv I'lMiii lo to l.'."i''o 7."i to '.in';- 



SmihI O to IC:';. a<) to liKI'^ 



3C 



nil 



Light and Heavy Soils. 



These jiercentages are by weight of 

 the dry soil. 



AVe hear the terms light and heavy 

 applied to soils. These terms have no 

 reference to the weights of tlio soil, but 

 are used in reference to the mechanical 

 condition. A light soil is one that con- 

 tains considerable sand, falls a])art and 

 works easily. A heavy soil is one that 

 is stiff and tenacious, with more clay 

 than sand. Tt is a fact that a heavy soil 

 actually weighs less than a light one. 



A tenacious or adhesive clay soil can 

 be greatly improved by the addition of 

 sand, lime or vegetable matter, which 

 tend to sejiaratc the particles of clay. It 

 is this adhesiveness of clay which causes 

 heavy soils to crack when drying. Clay 

 expands much more than light soil's 

 when wet and shrinks upon drying and, 

 owing to the adhesiveness of the par- 

 ticles of which it is composed, the 

 shrinking causes the cracks to appear. 

 These cracks are, naturally, injurious to 

 the roots of the plants, breaking and 

 pulling them apart. Sand does not 

 change its bulk by wetting or drying. 

 Likewise, a sandy soil can be im))roved 

 meclianically by'^thc addition of clay, 

 lime or vegetable matter. Lime has the 

 peculiar power of lightening heavy soils 

 and also of making iight soils liold to- 

 gether better, bringing the two extremes 

 to :i hajipy mean, as it were. 



The Composition of Soils. 



The general (diemical composition of 

 soils is extremely similar, owing to the 

 general mixing of the soil ingredients 

 that has been going on since soil first 

 liegan to form, through the action of 

 water dissolving and carrying material 

 from place to place, through the action 

 of streams. Hoods and glaciers, of bur- 

 rowing animals, worms, etc., of the wind 

 and even jilants. 



il-S:^-^^«^l:^tr^^<^7^>^^ 



Flowers arc More than Mere Merchandise. 



