1207. The first object of pulverisation is to give scope to the roots of vegetables, for without abundance of roots no plant will become vigorous, whatever may be the richness of the soil in which it is placed. The fibres of the roots take up the extract of the soil by intro-susception; the quantity taken up, therefore, will not depend alone on the quantity in the soil, but on the number of absorbing fibres. The more the soil is pulverised, the more these fibres are increased, the more extract is absorbed, and the more vigorous does the plant become. Pulverisation, therefore, is not only advantageous previously to planting or sowing, but also during the progress of vegetation, when applied in the spaces between the plants. In the latter case it operates also in the way of pruning, and by cutting off, or shortening the extending fibres, causes them to branch out into numerous others, by which the mouths or pores of the plants are greatly increased, and such food as is in the soil has the better chance of being sought after, and taken up by them.
