Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1925-01-17
morning until late at night.

the slope is slightly to the east it gets
the sun bright and early in the morn
ing, when it is most desirable. AS
the season continues and the sun
moves northward then gentle south
eastern slope is not in the direct path
of the suns rays when it becomes I'M
bearab.y hot in July and August.
| These may all seem like small fac
tors, but each one is important and
has q direct bearing on the success or
failure of an early garden, and the
earlier the garden the more desirable
it is.
Possibly you have had an opportu-
nifty to observe fog lying in low places
at night, while the higher points were
absolutely free from it. This proves
that fog is heavier than air and set
ties to the bottom. On very cold
nights this fog carries with it a much
lower temperature than is present in
the higher atmospheres and the dan
ger. from freezing is more apparent.
We all know that cold air is heavier
than warm air and settles to the bot
tom. This factor greatly increases
the danger of frost bitten vegetables
i'll the early spring if planted in low
places.
By placing your garden on the side
Of a hill fogs and cold air are permit
ted to work their way down to the
bottom of the slope, and unless they
are exceptionally heavy gardens near
the top will escape with practically
no injury, while those nearer the bot
tom may be damaged beyond recov-
cry, making new planting necessary.
This factor is important throughout
the gardening season, but becomes
more APPARENT as the danger of late
frosts increases and new paintings
become impossible due to a well-ad-
vanced season.
Select a location protected as much
as possible from north and northwest
winds. A southeastern slope takes
care Of this to large extent, but
even with this feature it desirable
to have growth of trees at the top
Of he grade if possible.
Although slope is an important
item in the selection of the site; it is
second in Importance when compared
to the fertility and acidity of the
ground. Rich lands can be made
richer and poor lands can be greatly
improved, but large portion of the
efforts is avoided if you have good
soil to start with.
The texture of the soil is by far
the most important factor in the Sc
lection of ground for a garden or
farm. Some soils through proper
handling can easily be brought into
high productivity, while others could
not be made to produce regardless IF
the amount of labor or money ex-
pended.
Texture is easy to determine after
you once know what it is and acquaint
yourself with the various kinds of
soil by methods of comparison. All
soils come under one of three heads
clay, loan, or sand. Clay is the finest
of the three, while sand is the coar-
sest, with loan being the medium of
the two.
Seldom is one of them found with.
out having some degree Of the other
mixed into it. The finest soil known
is silt. This is found to large extent
on the bottom of streams and rivers.
It is undesirable in every way for gar
den purposes, as it holds too much
water when wet and when dry it
bakes hard and prevents the roots of
the plants from making sufficient
growth.
Coarse sand is the coarsest soil and
is equally as undesirable for garden
purposes as silt. 1t holds no water at
all, and plants will perish in short
time should sufficient water not be a
valuable at all times. In addition to
this, coarse sand will hold no fertility,
but allows it to drain through before
the plants have an opportunity to
use it.
Only sweet soils produce good crops
and for this reason an acid test should
be made as soon as possible. To make
the test secure a piece of plain glass
about six inches SOuare q niece of
blue litmus paper and some distilled
water. Moisten the soil with the dis
titled water until you have very
heavy paste ball three inches in di-
ameter.
Lay the litmus paper on the glass
and cover with wet soil. Watch the
paper through the glass. If it turns
red then acid is present. The degree
-