MAKING THE LITTLE FLOWER GARDEN 11 



table, called humus, plant life must be sup- 

 plied from these in proportion to the require- 

 ments of species. We usually refer to a very 

 sandy or a very clayey soil as a poor soil, and 

 one abundantly supplied with humus as good 

 soil. A poor sandy soil contains from 80 to 

 100 per cent, of sand, and as sand, unmixed 

 with vegetable or animal matter, supplies little 

 nutriment to plants, it stands to reason one 

 would hardly expect to make a lovely garden 

 out of a mere sandbank, or out of a stretch of 

 closely-packed clay, for though clay may con- 

 tain plant food, the roots of plants cannot get 

 to it unless the clayey soil is mixed with other 

 soil. To a mixed sandy and clayey soil we 

 give the name loam. Such loam contains 

 from 40 to 60 per cent, of sand ; if from 60 to 

 80 per cent, of sand, we call it sandy loam, and 

 if less than 40 per cent, of sand we call it clayey 

 loam. This loam is the basis of aU good gar- 

 den soil. Drainage lightens the soil and per- 

 mits aeration, which is so necessary to it; and, 

 freed from stagnant moisture, the earth be- 

 comes warmer and drier and more fertile, as 

 the bacteria which nitrify it and convert 

 manure into plant food can live in soU that is 



