SOIL AND FERTILIZERS 301 



and water without losing its. capacity for absorb- 

 ing air." 



No briefer or more practical definition could 

 be made and if the amateur pays heed to it 

 many gardening problems and disappointments 

 will be avoided. Cultivation is obviously the 

 first means to the end, for not only does it 

 bring the soil to good condition, but it renders 

 available such plant food as it contains, and 

 prepares the earth for the reception of addi- 

 tional nutritive substances. At the same time, 

 •cultivation enables the gardener to provide, 

 even in limited space, the soil most suitable for 

 the plants he may desire to grow. For in- 

 stance, if his soil be of a heavy nature, contain- 

 ing less sand than it should, it will need com- 

 paratively little modifying to make it fit for the 

 growth of roses, plants that prefer such soil 

 conditions. On the other hand, in the bed 

 wherein he may desire to grow pansies, he will 

 find that the addition of leaf-mold will insure 

 him more vigorous plants and more profuse 

 and larger blooms. 



CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL 



It follows, consequently, that if there be in 

 the beginning a workable foundation, it is bet- 



