32 VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



be applied to them, but for some of the very stiff subsoils of 

 this section it is a great improvement, since it deepens the till 

 able land so that the roots of the plants can push more readily 

 into it. This loosening of the stiff subsoil also puts it into just 

 the right condition for receiving and holding water. It is thus 

 sometimes a great help in carrying plants over droughty periods. 

 Subsoiling gives best results when performed in the autumn. 

 If done in the spring and the operation is followed by dry 

 weather, the land is apt to be left too loose to hold moisture 

 well that year and consequently will suffer from drought. It is 

 seldom, even on stiff land, that subsoiling is needed more thar. 



Figure 3. — Root of onion plant with earth washed off. The roots went 

 tc the depth of eighteen inches in the earth. 



once in four or five years, for after being once loosened the 

 roots of plants penetrate it and keep it open. The roots of our 

 garden crops push deeper into the land than is generally known; 

 even the onion, which is, perhaps, as shallow^ rooted as any gar- 

 den crop grown, often pushes its roots to a depth of eighteen 

 inches in good soil, while corn roots have been followed to a 



