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WHAT ABOUT THE NEW , / (ondbtioncts 
Soil conditioning, in the broad, general 
sense, is anything but new. Ever since 
man first raised crops there has been 
soil conditioning of one kind or another, 
and if there hadn't been we'd probably 
still be living in trees or caves or bur- 
rows or wherever we first lived. 
But in the narrower sense, as distinct 
from cultivation and fertilization, soil 
conditioning is of recent origin, or at 
least the idea behind it is. Anyway, in 
recent years, and up until this year, 
“soil conditioner’’ has usually meant 
peatmoss, leafmold, humus, composted 
garden refuse or any of quite a few 
crop by-products low in plant nutrients 
but consisting of organic matter. 
Now, “soil conditioner’ has been taking 
on a still narrower meaning to garden- 
ers who've followed the news stories 
and advertisements of a host of products 
ending in “im,” “il,” “ir,” “ack” and the 
like. It has come to mean a chemical of 
Turn 
Clay Soil 
into 
Crumbly 
Topsoil 
ACP SOIL 
CONDITIONER 
Contains the two best-known soil con- 
ditioning chemicals (including the only 
time-tested one), plus hormones, ferti- 
lizer and essential mineral elements. Be- 
cause it contains both conditioning 
chemicals, ACP Soil Conditioner affects 
the widest range of soils, and readies the 
soil for the full benefit that hormones, 
fertilizer and mineral elements can pro- 
vide. Apply ACP Soil Conditioner as 
dust or spray—dust on moist soil, spray 
on dry soil. 
8-oz. shaker canister $1 
22-lb. shaker canister $3.55 
10-Ib. canister $10.90 
38 
is an eroded, grassless slope 
grass is virtually impossible to 
lost by 
Below 
where 
grow, because the seed 15s 
erosion before it can germinate. 
Here is the same slope treated with 
Soil Conditioner. Use of the soil con- 
ditioner gives the seed a chance to 
germinate and provide good lawn 
growth, 
some kind that “conditions” soil by 
causing the clay particles in it to stick 
together in small lumps or aggregates. 
This aggregation of clay particles makes 
the soil “loose” or “friable” in a some- 
what different way than the addition of 
organic matter does, but apparently it 
serves pretty much the same useful pur- 
pose by increasing water penetration 
and retention, by making for better 
aeration, by facilitating plant root de- 
velopment, and so on. 
Quite likely the development of these 
new materials will prove to have been 
the most important thing that happened 
to gardening around the mid-point of 
this century. Its impact on the minds of 
gardeners—highlighting the nature and 
importance of soil structure—is alone 
enough to benefit gardening more than 
anything else that’s turned up in late 
All You Need 
To Make Stuff Grow 
GRO-STUF 
a concentrated liquid fertilizer 
for root or foliage feeding 
A balanced 20-20-20 formula 
—nitrogen, 20%; phosphoric 
acid, 20%; potash, 20%. Also 
hormones and trace elements. 
Use it on trees, shrubs, flowers, 
vegetables and lawns. 
I-Ib. can $1.25 © 4-Ib. can $3.75 
years. And even if the soil conditioners 
themselves do less than one-tenth what 
some people expect them to do they'll 
still have worked minor wonders on 
gardening progress, 
Just how some of these new materials 
will work for individual plants in in- 
dividual gardens only time will tell. It 
goes without saying there'll be reports 
of unqualified success and others of 
complete failure, and although there'll 
be reasons for both it may not always 
be easy to pin them down. The recom- 
mendations for using some or all of the 
products will probably be revised from 
time to time and the same goes for the 
directions on the packages and the 
claims of the advertisements. The ma- 
terials are that new, 
Reprinted Courtesy 
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