“Oh, now, I see why plants must have water,” said Mary Frances. “Now, I understand why it is so necessary to cultivate—to hold the moisture in the ground.”
“To make humus soup,” Eleanor added.
“Fine!” cried Jack, rubbing his tiny hands in glee. “It’s splendid to teach such interested persons. It took human beings many, many years to find these things out. If only their eyes and ears had been open to us fairy folks, it wouldn’t have taken so long.”
“Now, human people, in growing garden plants, want to give them the best kinds of food,” he continued. “So, after studying to find out what is in the soil that plants need most, they have gathered those things together from various places, and have made Commercial Fertilizers.
“They are to be had in a powdered form, and are very concentrated plant food. Nothing is better to use, however, than barnyard manures.”
“One of the best commercial fertilizers is Nitrate of Soda.” (See Chapter LVIII entitled, “Some Hints on Growing Vegetables.”)
[CHAPTER XLIII]
How Plants Grow
“WHAT becomes, please, of the humus soup after the plant roots take it up?” asked Mary Frances thoughtfully.