* Gypsum soil conditioner should not be used to increase the pH of acidic soils. Gypsum is calcium sulfate, a salt, and it won't neutralize an acid soil condition.

* If you use composted cow manure, it should be scratched or raked into the top inch of soil, NEVER buried deeper in the soil.

* If you have clay soil, don't expect immediate dividends if you incorporate substantial organic matter into the soil. Because air and water don't move that much in clay soils, organic matter won't decay as quickly as in loamy or light soils. However, when organic matter does decay, it will yield greater and longer dividends because the plant minerals from organics just don't drain from the soil all that quickly.

* Clay consists of finely decomposed rock fragments combined with some organic matter and high concentrations of aluminum and iron. Clay retains plant minerals longer than all other kinds of soil. When you fertilize clay soil, some of the water-soluble minerals (such as urea) are released quickly to plant roots, but most of the fertilizer is locked up by the clay so plant roots are able to access these minerals at a later time. There is almost no loss of fertilizer in clay soils.

* The brown color of soil means there is an abundance of iron oxide in the soil, rendering the soil acidic (pH between 3 and 5.5). Yellow soil indicates low levels of iron oxide, but red soil means extremely high levels of oxide. Soils which are brown, red or yellow in color generally have good drainage and high concentrations of colloids to retain plant food.

* Leaf mold (decayed leaves and forest litter) yields dividends when incorporated into the soil of flower beds, but elsewhere in the garden humus from decayed evergreen needles and leaves of deciduous trees yield greater long-term dividends than leaf mold.

* You can improve clay soil with infrequent applications of sharp sand spaded or tilled into the upper six inches of soil. Conversely, light soils (sandy) may be improved by working clay into the subsoil.

* Most inorganic (man-made) fertilizers necessarily contain soluble salts due to the origin of minerals in the product. When you apply inorganic fertilizers to plants, the soluble salts force water at deeper levels in the soil to rise to the surface to dissolve these salts. Water is constantly evaporating from the upper parts of the soil, and more water is drawn up from deeper soils. This process continues as long as inorganic fertilizers remain in the top few inches of soil. A good dividend: plants growing there usually have good access to water at all times.

* Humus is the most important reservoir of water for plant life. The more humus, the more constant the growth. Capillary water surrounding soil particles in the humus provides the moisture.

(more to come)