Condition of the Soil 77 



The methods of tillage are of course endlessly variable. 

 The novice should inspect the methods of good growers. 

 The pictures accompanying this Chapter (Figs. 9-15) 

 show what results have been secured by successful men. 



The structure of the soil. 



The structure or physical state of the soil is com- 

 monly more important than its mere richness in plant- 



Fig. 11. The tillage strip in a vineyard. 



food. That is, the productivity of the land is not deter- 

 mined wholly, and perhaps not even chiefly, by the amount 

 of fertilizing elements it contains. This is particularly true 

 of all lands — like the clays — that tend to become and to 

 remain hard and unpleasant if left to themselves. Plant- 

 food is of no consequence unless the plant can use it. The 

 hardest rocks may contain various plant-foods in abundance, 

 and yet plants cannot grow on them. A stick of wood con- 



