300 YARD AND GARDEN 



fancies that new soil is necessary. The old 

 soil is removed and, in its place, new earth 

 is deposited. The expense is great, but the 

 real extravagance is only evident when it is 

 learned subsequently that the work was alto- 

 gether unnecessary. The author recalls one 

 instance in which he was informed by an en- 

 thusiastic beginner that the soil in the yard 

 where the latter expected to establish his gar- 

 den was worthless. A visit to the place, how- 

 ever, disclosed the fact that a rank growth of 

 weeds had sprung up and was thriving so lux- 

 uriantly that there could be no question of the 

 value of the soil on hand. In another in- 

 stance, over one hundred loads of soil were 

 carted away from a back-yard and dumped up- 

 on a vacant lot. This was done, of course, 

 to make a place for good soil. Two months 

 later, the weeds upon the "poor" soil stood 

 higher than a man's head and a colony of nas- 

 turtiums had established itself and was produc- 

 ing blooms finer than those the hasty begin- 

 ner was coaxing in his new soil. 



Sorauer, in his Physiology of Plants, says: 

 "The ideal condition of a soil is one in which 

 it resembles a sponge, and in which it will re- 

 tain the greatest amount of nutritive substances 



