| OCR Text |
Show 'first irrigation of soil The.' Very Little Danger ef Get ting" Too Much Water on New Lands for First Two Seaaons. On new lands there li little danger la using too much water for the first two soiisons after reclamation begins. Many of our western soils have never beun wet to a depth of two feet, at K'iiMt since the climate begun to be arid, and moot of our soils have probably prob-ably been formed since that time. He-fore He-fore these soils enn be put In the best producing condition they need to be no thoroughly saturated with moisture that the subsoil Is well saturated or there la a union of the free water near the surface with that which constitutes consti-tutes subsurface drainage. This movement Is what is known as film moisture downward Into the soils occupied by plant roots and Into the drainage does many things which Improve Im-prove Its cropping capacity. If the moisture increases downward, the roots of the plants are Induced to grow deeply Into the soli and establish permanent and Important feeding systems. sys-tems. The Importance of deep rooting, root-ing, especially with perennial plants, can hardly be underestimated, and where ttie subsoil remains dry deep rooting will not occur. The first Irrigation, therefore, should be abundant and conMnued for a long enough time to soak deeply In to the subsoil. Of course, much will depend on the character of tne soil, its depth and porosity. If a crop la being grown wblch will not stand the flooding of a sufficient length of time, the Irrigation should be done by running run-ning water through furrows or corrugations. corru-gations. One of the apparent reasons for beginners falling to get maximum crops on new soils Is that they do not understand the necessity of filling the subsoil with moisture, which both supplies the roots of the plants and does many things to bring the land into proper condition of tilth. After the soil has once become wet It will absorb water much more readily readi-ly and as there Is a partial supply of moisture stored In the subsoil much less water will be required to secure what we may call a thorough Irrigation. It Is after the land has been Irrigated a few seasons that the danger of over-Irrigation Is greatest. Over-Irrigation Is much more apt to cause trouble on heavy soils, or those without good drainage. Here the water stands for a long time on the surface, partially or wholly drowning the crop and destroying useful bacteria, bac-teria, or preventing them from aceonV pitching work because of the lack of air. |
