sandy soil, is to be preferred, as this is
apt to be warmer and the fruit will be matured much earlier on it than
on a heavier soil. It is essential, however, that it be well drained and
warm. Often lands classed as sandy are really colder than some of those
classed as clay, and such soils should be carefully avoided if early
maturity is important.

=For the home garden.=--Here we seldom have a choice, but no one need
despair and abandon effort, no matter what the soil may be, for it is
quite possible to raise an abundant home supply on any soil and that,
too, without inordinate cost and labor. Some of the most prolific plants
and the finest fruits I have ever seen were grown in a village lot which
five years before had been filled in to a depth of 3 to 10 feet with
clay, coal ashes and refuse from a brick and coal yard. In another
instance magnificent fruit was grown in a garden where the soil was
originally made up chiefly of sawdust mixed with sand, drawn on a
foundation of sawmill edgings so as to raise it above the water of a
swamp. Where one has to contend with such conditions he should make an
effort to create a friable soil with a supply of humus by adding the
material needed. A very few loads, sometimes even a single load, of clay
or sand will greatly change the character of the soil of a sufficient
area to grow the one or two dozen plants necessary for a family supply.
In the two cases mentioned, the owner of the first named garden used
both sand and sawdust to lighten his soil, while the second drew a great
many loads of clay on his.

=Growing under glass.=--I would make up a soil composed of about three
parts rotted sod, two or three parts of well-rotted stable manure (and
it is very important that it be well decomposed) and one part either of
coarse, sharp sand, sandy loam or clay loam, according as the sod soil
is light or heavy, the aim being to form a rich, light, open soil rather
than one which is as heavy and compact as desirable for some plants. If
sod soil is not available, of course, garden loam can be substituted,
but it is very important that the soil be thoroughly mixed, and
desirable that it be prepared sometime before it is to be used. Some
growers use the same soil for several crops, simply adding some fresh
manure; but, if so used, it is important that it be stirred and
thoroughly re-mixed and sterilized.

CHAPTER VI

Exposure and Location

In sections where there is danger of t