June  9,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
483 
{page  120,  February  10th)  that  he  would  not  dig  in  tlie  autumn,  but 
in  winter.  As  a  matter  of  principle,  not  to  say  “  philosophy,”  which 
seems  too  much  for  them,  both  these  correctors  of  a  gardener,  whose 
experience  probably  either  might  envy — though  they  may  feel  them¬ 
selves  his  superior  in  intelligence — both  these  “young  minds,”  if  both 
are  young,  as  one  confesses  himself  to  be,  cannot  possibly  be  right,  and 
consequently  one  of  them  must  be  wrong.  Hr.  Dunn  will  say  it 
cannot  be  him,  because  he  knows  from  “  experience,”  and  Mr.  Pea 
may  retort  that  he,  from  experience,  knows  also,  and  knows  better. 
>  If  they  would  be  content  to  rely  on  the  results  of  their  practice 
they  would  be  rather  strongly  entrenched,  but  neither  of  them  can  let 
make  them  wetter  and  colder  ?  It  is  a  recognised  fact,  says  Mr.  Dunn, 
that  dug  soil  will  retain  more  moisture  than  that  which  is  allowed  to 
remain  unbroken.  Then  why  (apart  from  convenience)  break  up 
retentive  soil  till  favourable  weather  occurs,  and  the  ground  is  wanted 
for  use  ?  If  there  has  been  frost,  it  will  have  been  frozen  even  more 
deeply  than  if  it  were  light — i.e.,  thrown  up,  roughly  or  otherwise ; 
and  we  really  cannot  help  it  if  we  would.  According  to  his  own 
showing,  then,  though  he  does  not  appear  to  see  it,  the  ardent  young 
philosopher  increases  the  wetness,  and  lowers  the  temperature  of  his 
cold  wet  land  by  digging  long  before  the  time  for  sowing  and  planting. 
This  is  because  it  must  be  so,  though  he  does  not  mean  it  so  to  be 
Fig.  90.— PHLEBODIUM  MAYl. 
the  “  philosophy  ”  alone,  even  if  they  do  feel  it  to  be  something  of  a 
ghost.  It  reminds  of  the  moth  and  the  candle.  They  whirl  round  it, 
make  a  dash  at  it,  but  do  not  put  it  out ;  on  the  contrary,  they  might 
get  singed — ^just  a  little.  Mr.  Dunn  cannot,  for  the  life  of  him,  see 
why  frost  should  penetrate  deeper  into  firm  soil  than  loose  soil.  That 
is  very  likely.  He  is  not,  to  coin  a  word,  sufficiently  philosophised, 
but  it  is  hoped  he  will  be  some  day.  Really,  Mr.  Thomson  told  him, 
but  he  did  not  see  it.  He  will  see  it  when  he  has  studied  the 
principles  of  density  and  conduction  till  he,  to  a  fair  extent,  compre¬ 
hends  them ;  but  he  must  have  time.  He  cannot  deny  the  facts,  or 
if  he  did,  they  would  remain  the  same  until  long  after  he  has  done 
digging,  his  lump  of  soil  or  lump  of  self-reliance  notwithstanding. 
It  is  rather  interesting  to  note  how  both  these  champions  (each  of 
which  disclaims  the  methods  of  the  other)  so  innocently  give  them¬ 
selves  away.  What  is  the  reason  why  clay  soils  are  so  unworkable  in 
the  spring,  the  growth  so  slow  in  them,  and  crops  so  late  ?  Fancy 
asking  such  a  question,  since  everybody  knows,  or  ought  to  know,  it 
is  because  such  soils  are  cold  and  wet.  If  that  is  so,  as  it  is,  why 
nor  does  it  appear  to  matter  very  much  in  his  particular  case,  though 
it  matters  very  seriously  where  the  winter  rainfall  is  perhaps  twice  as 
great  as  that  of  which  he  has  experience. 
Then  INIr.  Pea  says  it  is  indubitably  true  that  a  loose  body  of 
material  holds  more  water  than  one  that  is  solid.  Yes,  it  is.  He  goes 
on  to  say  that  water  expands  in  freezing.  It  does ;  and,  therefore,  he 
reasons,  the  more  water  in  the  soil  the  more  ice,  and  the  more  com¬ 
pletely,  in  consequence,  the  soil  is  shattered.  Let  this  also  be  granted  ; 
but  do  not  at  the  same  time  forget  that  an  equal  amount  of  frost  will 
convert  the  quite  sufficient,  and  often  too  much,  moisture  in  firmer 
undug  soil  into  ice,  and  shatter  every  particle  of  the  surrounding 
medium  just  as  wmll,  while  the  water  will  pass  through  it  much  more 
freely  than  if  it  were  made  loose  by  digging.  The  purpose  is  then 
served,  the  desire  accomplished. 
Another  question  then  arises,  and  a  most  important  one.  It  will, 
perhaps,  be  generally  conceded  that  the  more  water  there  is  in  strong 
soil  in  the  spring  the  more  unfavourable  it  must  be  for  purposes  of 
cultivation.  What  becomes  of  the  greater  amount  of  water  that  must 
