Show County Count Farm Notes 87 Dy County County Agent Paul Gr Grimshaw GROWING WEEDS STEAL SOIL MOISTURE DEAD WEEDS CONSERVE Growing weeds the are great lest I est thieves of soil moisture says say Paul GrImshaw County Agent weeds that are killed and kept on top of the soil soH along with other plant residue become Ian ar an effective aid In conserving water In the soil Growing weeds weeds weeds-It If they are dense or thoroughly cover the ground will ground will transpire out Into the air about the same amount of water as bare wet soil But the weeds keep on doing It day after day because they keep on sending their roots down Into the subsoil where the water Is So controlling weeds Mr Grim Grime Grimshaw shaw stresses Is Just as Important tant tent as not having bare W wet t soil soli In your field fled on a sunshiny day But Dut he adds keep the dead weeds on the surface to avoid I leaving the soil bare A wet bare silt loam soil will lose a quarter of an Inch of water water wa ter In a single clear dry day In May or June The second clear day as the surface becomes dry the loss doss will be less and each successive day It will decrease In tn four or five days or about three thle e days In summer the loss will become negligible after the soil has dried out to a depth of about 5 Inches and has lost a total of about a half inch of water To conserve moisture Mr 1 Grimshaw suggests keeping tillable tillable till till- able land covered all year round either with grass a growing crop or plant residue weeds will do Rain stored In the soil In im the winter with the help of a ground groundcover groundcover groundcover cover will be available for other crops the following sum sum- mer |