=185. Practical Applications.=—The practical application of this is, according to Hilgard, that the loosely flocculated aggregation of the soil particles is what constitutes good tilth. For this reason the perfect rest of a soil, if it is protected from the tamping influence of rains and the tramping of cattle, may produce a condition of tilth which cannot be secured by any mechanical cultivation. As an illustration of this, the pulverulent condition of virgin soils protected in a forest by the heavy coating of leaves may be cited. On the contrary, as pointed out by Hilgard, there are some kinds of soil in which a condition of rest may produce the same effect as tamping. These are soils which consist of siliceous silt without enough clay to maintain them in position after drying. In such a case, the masses of floccules collapse by their own weight or by the least shaking, and fall closely together, producing an impaction of the soil. This takes place in some river sediment soils in which the curious phenomenon is presented of injurious effects produced by plowing when too dry, which is the direct opposite of soils containing a sufficient amount of clay and which are injured by plowing too wet. It is further observed that the longer a soil has been maintained in good tilth, the less it is injured by wet plowing. This is doubtless, according to Hilgard, due to the gradual cementation of the floccules by the soil water which fixes them more or less permanently. Whitney believes that the arrangement of the grains, or the condition of flocculation in the soil, or the distance apart of the soil grains, is determined, to a large extent, by the potential on the surface of the grains; and he suggests that by changing this the exceedingly fine grains of silt and clay can be pulled together or can be pushed further apart, and so alter the whole texture of the land. The action of alkaline carbonates in preventing flocculation, and thus rendering tillage difficult or impossible, is pointed out by Hilgard in the case of certain alkali soils of California. The soils which are impregnated with alkaline carbonates are recognized by their extreme compactness. The suggestion of Hilgard to use gypsum on such soils has been followed by the happiest results. This gypsum renders any phosphates present insoluble, and thus prevents loss by drainage, and yet leaves the plant food in a sufficiently fine state as to be perfectly available for vegetation. =186. Suspension of Clay in Water.=—The suspension of clay in water and the methods of producing or retarding flocculation and precipitation have also been studied by Durham.[124] His experiment is made as follows: