valuable for a sandy one. The same is true of ashes and of the organic
manures--especially of green manuring. Fertilizers, on sandy soils,
where they will not long be retained, should be applied only
immediately before planting, or as top and side dressing during growth.

Sandy soil in the garden will produce early and quick results, and is
especially adapted to melons, cucumbers, beans and a number of the
other garden vegetables.

GRAVELLY SOIL is generally less desirable than either of the others; it
has the bad qualities of sandy soil and not the good ones of clay,
besides being poorer in plant food. (Calcareous, or limestone pebble,
soils are an exception, but they are not widely encountered.) They are
not suited for garden work, as tillage harms rather than helps them.

THE IDEAL GARDEN SOIL is what is known as a "rich, sandy loam," at
least eight inches deep; if it is eighteen it will be better. It
contains the proper proportions of both sand and clay, and further has
been put into the best of mechanical condition by good tilth.

That last word brings us to a new and very important matter. "In good
tilth" is a condition of the soil difficult to describe, but a state
that the gardener comes soon to recognize. Ground, continually and
_properly cultivated_, comes soon to a degree of fineness and
lightness at once recognizable. Rain is immediately absorbed by it, and
does not stand upon the surface; it does not readily clog or pack down;
it is crumbly and easily worked; and until your garden is brought to
this condition you cannot attain the greatest success from your
efforts. I emphasized "properly cultivated." That means that the soil
must be kept well supplied with humus, or decomposed vegetable matter,