CHAPTER II 



SOIL AND FERTILIZEES 



Like the making of a gannent, the making of a 

 garden is largely a matter of material and style. But 

 while the material of which our garments shall be 

 composed is largely a matter of choice and taste, in 

 the making of a garden we must deal with such ma- 

 terial of soil, location and exposure as the good or 

 bad of our environment supplies. Fortunately there 

 is very little in the way of soil that cannot, by proper 

 handling, be induced to respond to culture. I like to 

 think that soil and plants are sentient things, feeling 

 our moods and characteristics much as animals and 

 humans do. If we deal with them generously and 

 sympathetically, they will respond in kind, but the 

 gardener niggardly in care, giving food and seed 

 and moisture with a selfish hand, will reap a barren 

 harvest. 



The only soil really unfit for cultivation is one of 

 hard pan. Where this occurs there is really nothing 

 that can be done except to remove it bodily and fill 

 in the excavation with the best soil procurable. A 



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