April, 1914 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



499 



ly due to li\ inij or^^aiiisms, many 

 of the most important also bcinij 

 microscopical i>lants, of which 

 liactcria are the most numerous. 



— Factors Deitermininjj the Char- 

 acter of Soil. — 



Put more definitely, an, onlinary 

 soil IS a complex- material, the 

 basis of which is the ground or 

 decoir.Doscd rock. Its character 

 depends, first, on the cheimical 

 composition of the rock from 

 which it is derived ; second, on the 

 deo-ree of orindinn- and decomposi- 

 tion it lias underjjone ; third, on 

 the amount of washincr to which 

 it has l^een exposed ; fourth, on the 

 amount and character of oroanic 

 matter, i.e., decayed animals '^and 

 plants incorporated with it ; and, 

 fifth, on the microscopic (chiefly 

 bacteria) life it contains. 



Sand is trround rock from which 

 the fine particles have been wash- 

 ed out. Clav is also o^round rock 

 and is composed of the fine - --ni- 

 cies washed out of the sand. The 

 difference between sand and clay 

 >mav be partly due to the decom- 

 position of the material ; but all 

 the physical characteristics of clay 

 may be due to the fineness of the 

 srrindine and this will be explained 

 later on. Peaty soils are almost 

 entirely composed of decayed or de- 

 cayino- plants. These extremes are 

 not <Tood soils. The farmer desires 

 a soil which is composed of all 

 three': but the mixture may vary 

 in character. If sand oredominates', 

 the soil is sandy. If day is the 

 cjiief consttituent, it is clayey. 

 When vegetable matter predomin- 

 ates, the soil is peaty. And when 

 the three are more evenly mixed, 

 we have the varied series of loams 

 so hiehlv prized by all classes of 

 asrriculturalists. Later on it wilj 

 be necessqrv to be more exact, but 

 this much is requisite to prepare 

 for the studv of how soils are 

 formed. 



Aristocratic Soils. — 



Were soils gifted with the weak- 

 nesses of men, some would no 

 doubt be eciuallv vain in rlaimino- 

 superioritv on account of their 

 oriorin, and certain it is that the 

 pediPTee of a soil is of vasit im- 

 portance to the man who has to 

 cultivate lit. Admit this personali- 

 ty nnd imasnne the aristocratic air 

 of the rich chocolate volcanic soils 

 of Wamambool, Ballarat, Mount 

 Cambier, Colac, and Northern 

 Tasmania as they boast their des- 

 cent direct from Old Pluto and 

 ?lorv that in their b rth the very 

 earth shook and trembled. Thi^i 

 of the rivalry of the rich alluvials 

 which might with equal right 



claim to be the result of the ero- 

 sion of ten thousand hills which 

 were old when Mount CVambier and 

 other extinct volcanoes started in- 

 to activity. 



The jJoint I desire the reader to 

 realise is that, in considering the 

 origin of soils as well as some 

 other questions underlying agricul- 

 ture, we cannot draw a clear dis- 

 tinction between supposition and 

 fact, in other words we do not 

 quite know where fact ends and 

 imagination begins. 



The study of the origin of soils 

 is largely a matter of geology. | In 

 addition to geology the prin,ciples 

 of agriculture involve the study of 

 meteorology, chemistry, physics, 

 and natural history. It is import- 

 ant that the student of the prin- 

 ciples of agriculture should eet a 

 good grasp of this question of the 

 origin of soils, but it must be can- 

 didly admitted that the knowledge 

 will help the farmer but little in 

 his daily business of getting a 

 living from the farm. It will' ex- 

 plain many of the ways of his 

 work, but if he keeps "his plough 

 idle while he studies the odigin of 

 soil, he may obtain nleasure and 

 knov/ledo-e, but he won't get crops. 

 Cultivation of the mind is not a 

 substitute for tillage of the soil 

 Many a farmer has failed, not 

 from knowin? too much, but from 

 doing too little. Study why— but 

 keep the team going. 



where irrigation is imperative, and 

 the non-irrigated samples from dis- 

 tricts where the annual rainfall 

 \ aries from 2.s to .^.s inches, deter- 

 minations were made of total 

 solids, acids, sugars, nitrogen, ash, 

 and waste in several varieties, 

 when they were in a condition sim- 

 ilar to that in which they reach 

 the retail trade. It was found that 

 the differences between the irri- 

 gated and non-irrigated in total 

 sutrar and acid were so small that 

 in the analytical data obtained there 

 was no substantial liasis for the 

 claim that the irrigated apple is 

 inferior in taste. 



Oranges. 



(To be Continued). 



The Composition of Irriga- 

 tion and Non-Irrigated 

 Apples. 



It is generally believed that irri- 

 eated fruits are inferior to non- 

 irngated fruits as regrards taste 

 and power to resist the various 

 agencies which effect decay, and in 

 support of this belief it"^ is fre- 

 quently stated that the former 

 contain abnormally high percent- 

 ages of water, and consequently 

 low percentacres of dry matter, 

 and are therefore deficient in those 

 compounds which determine the 

 taste and body of the fruit. Al- 

 thoup^h the nuality of fruits may 

 not be capable of determination 

 from analysis alone, it would ap- 

 pear, in so far as taste depends 

 upon the pre.sence of certain com- 

 pounds, analytical data would be 

 of material serx-ice Sn the settle- 

 ment of questions relating to qual- 

 ity. In some recent experiments, 

 apples were obtained from parts 



For raising .seedlings for stocks 

 select only seed of oranges from 

 vigorous-growing trees, and the 

 pips of oranges having pfenty of 

 well-developed seeds. Harcourt in 

 " Florida Fruits," says :— "Do not 

 dry the seeds before planting," and 

 recommends that if it is desired 

 to keep them half-fill a box with 

 moist sand, mixing the seeds with 

 the sand. Cover with a good 

 mulch of moss or straw, and put 

 in a cool, shady place, and they 

 will k (rood for weeks; but if 

 they show signs of sproutin^ hur. 

 ry them into the seed-bed. 



Orantre seedlings are usually 

 rallsed by nurserymen in cold, 

 glass frames • but a seed-bed cov- 

 ered with calico will do. Make a 

 bed filled with sand and decayed 

 cow manure and leaf mould. Pack 

 it firmly, and soak it well. When 

 it becomes mellow, make drills lin. 

 deep and 6in. apart, and plant the 

 seeds, say, ^in. apart. 



Nurserymen often make drills 

 .•^in. wide, and sow thickly to prick 

 out when about t, in. high. Others 

 sow broadcast at about lin. apart, 

 and prick out when 3 or 4 in. high'. 

 Sown as directed thev may stand 

 until a foot high. Keep the soil 

 nist moist, not wet. 



When laro-e enourrh plant out the 

 seedlin'rs in nur.s■er^' rows 3 ft. 

 apart, and g in. to "a foot in the 

 rows. 



As the seeds are to be sown after 

 the oranee is fullv ripe, and while 

 the seeds are fresh, it follows that 

 the time is spring or early sum- 

 mer. 



The disproportion between the 

 weifrht of a small boy and the noise 

 of his boot-heels as he walks out 

 of church at the quietest moment 

 is a curious problem in dynamics. 



