roots would fail to get sufficient air. Most of the 
trees that die in this area die from insufficient 
watering, then too, a few die because there is no 
windbreak. 
Sandy Soil 
Many plants grow well in sandy soil. Sometimes 
this is due to soil structure and sometimes it is 
because plants require lime. Sandy soil generally con- 
tains much lime. 
The soil structure in blow sand is almost opposite 
from the gravel bed. The gravel bed produces fibrous 
roots; the blow sand produces very fine roots. 
Most of our garden plants are lovers of soil rich 
in lime. Many of them like a porous soil structure. 
The tomato and carrot are two good examples. 
Bare sand gets very hot in sunshine and may 
require shade to reduce this excessive heat down 
to 80 or 90 degrees. Some crops can produce their 
own shade, others cannot. 
Sandy soil is usually deficient in rock phosphate 
and often in potash. Nitrogen will sometimes put 
these minerals in soluble form. 
Boron is a minor element. Fifteen to twenty 
pounds of borax should provide enough for an acre 
for years, but it is needed for alfalfa, apples, pears, 
and strawberries, and perhaps other crops. 
Acids 
Some acids, when one or two drops are diluted 
in a quart of water, are beneficial to quite a few 
plants. They might kill insects, virus, fungus, or 
microbes or encourage them, or maybe make foods in 
soluble form. 
Water and Moisture 
There are a few plants which can live on an annual 
rainfall of ten inches. Our annual rainfall here is 
about twenty to thirty-five inches but it may be more 
or less. That is a good range for wheat. Except for 
extreme varieties, corn does better where the rain- 
fall is forty to sixty inches a year. 
Most trees and garden crops do best with that 
much or more rainfall per year. Many of these plants 
are irrigated. 
Most little plants need little water, but as they 
get larger, more water is needed in proportion to their 
Size. Plants get water from the soil and air. A few 
plants can grow in water and a few can grow in air 
without soil. Many people can look at a plant or the 
soil and see that a plant needs water or that it does 
not need water, but some people just can’t under- 
stand a plant. About one third of my customers lose 
all the Bush Type Strawberry divisions because they 
do not water enough or often enough. 
