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Outdoor Problems of the Householder: Heavy
Heavy soils may be classified as clay, clay loams, silt loams, or loam soils.
They are formed by the admixture of clay with silt or fine earth in varying proportions. Light or sandy soils may be coarse or fine sandy soils or sandy loams. The basis of this case is sand which is mixed with fine earth and loam in various proportions.
The distinction between surface soil and sub-soil has been mentioned.
At some distance below the surface of the ground in most localities, a change will be observed in both the color and texture of the soil. The surface soil is usually darker and This is due to the more porous. effects of vegetable and animal life and to other influences. The depth of this surface soil may vary from a few inches, as in mountainous or stony soils, to many feet as in certain prairies and river valleys. As a rule the deeper the surface soil the more fertile the land. Its depth in small lawns and gardens may often be profitably increased in either or both of two ways: (1) a layer of suitable soil from some other locality may be added; or (2) the surface soil may be deepened by the use of an ordinary plow or spade, or by sub-soiling. The kind of soil to add upon the surface will depend upon the nature of that already in position. This may be readily understood from a brief statement of the chief characteristics of the different kinds of soils. A light or sandy soil is usually "leachy." The soil water tends to drain off too rapidly and to carry with it soluble plant food. Such soils, therefore, tend to become deficient both in plant food and moisture. And this tendency is much enhanced if the sub-soil is a porous sand or gravel. In such cases, measures are required to solidify the soil and increase its proportion of humus. This may be done by adding a layer of two or three inches of clay, by the liberal application of stable manure, or by liming.
Heavy soils, upon the other hand, are sometimes not sufficiently open to admit as much oxygen as the plant roots and the soil bacteria require.
Moreover, such soils do not drain freely and evenly enough. The surface of the ground tends to become baked and hard. Yet there may be too much water beneath and about the roots of the plants. Such conditions are best overcome by good under-drainage with tile, by careful cultivation, by the adding of an inch or two of sand and fine loam, by liberal top dressing with strawy stable manure, or by green manuring.
The use of lime is especially beneficial.
Drainage. A prime consideration to the growth of lawn grasses, shade trees, shrubbery, garden plants, and, indeed, all sorts of crops, is an abundance of moisture coupled with good drainage in the soil. The movement of soil water above hard-pan is principally up and down. There is very little lateral movement except that caused by the dip of hard-pan, usually at some distance below the surface. The free water in the soil tends to settle to a uniform level over a larger or smaller area depending upon the nature of the sub-soil. This level is known as the "water table." When rains fall, that portion of the rain water which is not carried off by surface drainage sinks into the soil and settles to the level of the water table which is thereby raised.
In times of drouth, the water which evaporates from the surface is replaced from this reservoir of free water beneath by the process called capillarity. The principle is that by which oil is fed to the flame through the wick of a lamp. The water table is thereby lowered. A sandy soil may resist drouth poorly for two reasons: the water table may be too low or it may not have enough of this property of capillarity, its particles being too far apart. A clay soil may be too wet either because the water table is too high so that the plants have "wet feet", that is, their roots are surrounded with standing water, or it may be deficient in capillarity for an opposite reason, its particles being too close together. A well drained soil is one in which the water table lies normally several inches below the roots of the growing plants but which has strong capillarity properties. Its particles must be neither too far apart nor too close together, as a good wick is one which is neither too loosely nor too tightly woven.
Reasoning from the above principles it is apparent that a sandy soil or fine, light, clay loam may not require under-drainage unless it lies upon a clay or other impervious subsoil or receives excessive moisture from springs or underground streams. On the other hand most heavy soils are improved by underdrainage, especially if the land is low and springy or marshy, or if it contains pools of standing water at any period of the year.
The first step is evidently to find out what the soil conditions are. They may often be observed from cuts, such as the excavation of cellars, wells, roadways, planting of shade trees and other purposes, or in the course of grading operation. But unless such cuts are well distributed over the grounds, it is a good plan to make a few openings here and there. Especially make observations at the highest and lowest points to learn the nature and relations of the surface soil, sub-soil and hard-pan and the dip of the various strata.
This may be done with some labor by means of spades or the implements used to dig post holes. But a much more convenient tool is the OUTDOOR PROBLEMS OF THE HOUSEHOLDER 241 soil auger. By means of this the soil can be tested on any part of the grounds with very little effort or interference with existing conditions.
Soil auger for collecting soil samples and useful in exploring sub-soil conditions in lawns. Such an instrument entirely prevents the disfigurement which would be unavoidable if a larger hole had to be dug in a lawn. (L. C. Corbett.) Tile Drains.-Unless investigation shows that both surface and sub-soil are so porous as to admit of abundant drainage, it may be assumed that an appropriate system of tile drainage will be a substantial benefit to both lawn and garden. To accomplish the best results treat the entire plot as a single unit. Lay the tile lines at a distance of from five to twenty feet apart according to the amount of water to be removed and the texture of the soil. Lay them at a depth of between three and four feet according to climate.
This places them well below the frost line and out of the way of injury from plowing or other operations such as installing a sewage disposal system, digging fence posts, tree planting and the like. All tile should have a gradual inclination toward a common outlet. This may be the street sewer, if any, or in the absence of a sewerage system, any low point of ground, the farther from the house, the better. Take care to see that the outfall does not become a stagnant pool, else it will afford a breeding place for mosquitoes.
Use the four-inch red agricultural tile laid with open joints according to the directions of the manufacturer. First prepare a plan to show the exact location of every line of tile and mark the end of each in some suitable manner as by an iron rod or stone set in the ground. Thus it can readily be found and uncovered if the drains should become stopped up.
The effect of an adequate system of tile drainage is to remove all surplus surface water from the soil and to lower the water table to a uniform point below the roots of the growing plants. If the sub-soil is reasonably compact and if the surface soil contains a fair proportion of clay or loam and is well supplied with humus, the result will be an ideal condition for growing plants. Take care both in opening and filling ditches made for tile, to throw the surface soil to one side and the sub-soil to the other. Refill the ditch so that the two kinds of soil will be in their former relation. Otherwise the grass will not grow equally as well over the lines of the ditches and they may be clearly observable in the finished lawn.
To clear tile drain pipes which have become obstructed by roots of trees or otherwise use a stiff wire brush on the end of a wire cable.
Open the end of the obstructed drain most remote from the outlet, attach the brush to the cable and thrust it along the tile until the obstruction has been reached. If the obstruction resists the brush, its exact location can be measured by the length of the cable under ground.
An opening can then be made at a point such that the obstructed tile can be removed and cleaned.
After the tile are laid and the grading operations finished, give the entire lawn and garden the same treatment as a field intended for an especially valuable farm crop. Plow or spade the land to a depth depending upon that of the surface soil and the nature of the sub-soil.
If the surface soil is thin and the sub-soil is of a markedly different character, if, for example, a thin layer of loam lies over a hard gravel or clay-do not plow deeply enough to mix the raw sub-soil with the surface soil. Rather, turn over the surface soil and add a layer of suitable soil from some other locality. Or use the sub-soil plow to deepen the soil. This loosens and breaks up the sub-soil without turning or lifting it. Both before and after plowing, take great care to pick up and remove all pieces of board, broken brick, slate, tile, or other building material and also all roots, branches and trunks of trees, loose stone, roots of grasses and weeds, and other rubbish of every description.
Not infrequently odds and ends of this sort are deliberately carted in to fill up the lawn. Or they may be carelessly left lying scattered about and merely covered to a depth of a few inches with surface soil. Such obstructions cut off the grass roots from their supply of water and their presence is revealed at the first drouth by a spot of dead grass in the lawn.
Fertilization. - The lawn is to be permanently seeded to a single crop.
And the gardens are to be subjected to an annual cropping of plants and flowers. Hence it would seem that they could hardly be made too rich.
The best authorities recommend that well composted and rotted stable manure be applied to the surface at the rate of from forty to sixty twohorse wagon loads to the acre, and turned in with the plow. But take care that this is free from detrimental weed seeds. If the soil is raw, from admixture with sub-soil from cellars or grading operations, or if it is light, thin or poor in plant food and humus, it may be very much improved by sowing it for a year or more with some crop suitable for green manuring. Cow-peas and soybeans are recommended for latitudes south of Washington, D. C., and red clover, vetches and Canadian peas for northern districts. Let these reach their maximum growth and then plow under. This will improve the structure of the soil and make it more retentive of moisture and soluble plant food.
Then apply about 1,000 pounds of lime to the acre and later, at the time of preparing the seed bed,apply from 500 to 1,000 pounds of fine ground bone, together with 300 to 500 pounds of a high grade fertilizer containing about 3 per cent nitrogen, 6 to 8 per cent phosphoric acid and about 8 per cent potash, upon each acre. This is, in substance, the recommendation of the United States Department of Agriculture.
Or if the soil is so raw that it will not grow a good forage crop suitable for green manuring, manure even more heavily and grow such crops as corn or potatoes for a year or two in order to improve its tilth by the process of cultivation. a Selection of Lawn Grass Seeds.- Among the qualities most sought for in lawn grasses are a close turf, soft, rather than wiry, of pleasing color and with capacity to resist drouth and other climatic conditions under repeated clipping. Under ideal conditions a better lawn can be made with one kind of lawn grass than with mixture. Kentucky blue grass is the prime favorite. It thrives best on a comparatively retentive, strong and well drained soil where there is an abundance of moisture.