The Soil of the Garden Ry 
— 
International Harvester Co. 
Fic. 36. Soil that was not cultivated at the proper time and consequently be- 
came ‘‘baked” by the hot sun. The good gardener never allows his soil to get 
into this condition. 
particles. In an ounce of the finest clay there are more 
than five times as many. 
The size of the particles of organic matter in soil 
varies with the stage of decay. Leaf mold (formed from 
decaying leaves) and peat (accumulations of plant re- 
mains, usually in swamps where decay is very slow) 
contain many somewhat coarse fragments of leaves and 
twigs. Well-decayed humus is exceedingly fine, and it 
dissolves or becomes somewhat jelly-like when soaked in 
water. 
Soil particles are usually grouped together. If they 
are separate and free to move about one another, the 
soil is loose. But it is seldom, except in the coarsest 
sand, that the individual particles are entirely separate. 
In most soils they stick together in groups, forming 
granules of various sizes. When the granules are large, 
