CHAPTER II 



Soils and Their Care 



It is more profitable to use soil for gardening than for writing 

 autographs on newly scrubbed floors. — Buck McCrawley. 



There is no set standard for measuring the qual- 

 ities or classifying the merits of soils. Some soils 

 are naturally fit for fruits and vegetables, others 

 have to be bolstered up and coaxed- and others are 

 altogether out of garden and orchard classes. These 

 last are few. They are too insignificant to serve 

 as drawbacks. On every farm a garden patch and 

 a fruit plantation site can be found. If not already 

 serviceable, it can be made so. Good drainage, 

 good tillage, an abundance of manure and high- 

 grade fertilizers will do wonders. Stubborn the 

 soil may be, but by proper handling in time the 

 most stubborn soil will respond. And sour or hard 

 or light or stiff, these five will prove a general 

 panacea for most troubles and difficulties. In fact, 

 every bit of knowledge gained about soils empha- 

 sizes only the more the healing effect of tillage and 

 humus in soil difficulties. 



"The real secret of tillage," writes Prof. C. W. 

 Burkett, " lies in the depth that the soil body is 

 stirred. Shallow spading or plowing will not do 

 the stunt. One must have a deep body of soil, 10 

 to 15 inches, and this must be so well worked that 

 no clods will be found anywhere. Particularly not 

 down below, because clods resting there, although 

 covered up, will interfere with air and water cir- 

 culation and with the spread of the roots. A strict 



