14 
GARDENING IN THE SOUTHWEST 
Acid 
Localities 
Alkaline and 
Neutral 
fication of plant-life, there are many that demand a certain soil or 
will flourish only in one or the other of the three specific types). 
Acid soil is usually sandy loam, although the highest degree of 
acidity is to be found in those low lands that are often inundated. 
One of the chief agencies for overcoming this condition is the use 
of lime, the hydrated or burnt forms, obtainable at the building 
supply dealers, being the most convenient to use. 
In the major part of the Southwest there is little occasion to use 
lime, because the structural composition of most of the soil is large¬ 
ly decomposed limestone. Yet where drainage is poor and the soil 
soured, or on small areas where plants have been grown in pro¬ 
fusion and the soil made acid by the decomposed vegetation, lime 
can be used sparingly to correct this condition. 
Attention must be called to the fact that lime should never be 
used at the same time that intensive fertilizers or manures are 
employed. 
ACID SOIL BED-PREPARATION 
In heavily impregnated lime soil those plants that object to lime 
must have an area especially prepared for them. 
To prepare the ground and to prevent the seepage of water 
carrying lime from the surrounding earth into the acid-bed, line 
the bottom of the two-foot excavation with at least three inches 
of coal ashes and cinders and the walls with cement or bricks. Place 
over the cinders alternate layers of six inches of oak leaves and 
four inches of sand, leaving a layer of sand at the top. Over this 
scatter one-half pound of aluminum sulphate to each square yard. 
Keep wet until the leaves have rotted, stirring every two weeks, 
taking care not to disturb the cinders. After the mixture has re¬ 
mained several days, test the soil for acidity (by submerging a 
blue litmus paper in the bed for thirty minutes). If the paper 
turns red, it is the right degree for acid-loving plants. 
Another method is to place alternate layers of garden soil and 
hardwood sawdust and sand over the cinders, giving the same 
treatment as above. 
