OCR Text |
Show TO CONTROL MOISTURE Packing Brings Supply of Water ' From Below. Stirring the Surface Leaves a Mulch and Checks Evaporation Harrow May Be Used After the Ordinary Ordi-nary Land Roller, To properly understand the effect of any implement on the moisture content of the soil it is necessary that we understand the way water acts. The kind of soil water which is of most Importance to a farmer Is what la sometimes called capillury water. This capillary water la what is coining coin-ing up from lower levels in the soil all the time to the surface. The action ac-tion of this water is seen when Wy and or earth la put in a small basin of water so that the Mil Is away above the vessel contulnlng It. If there Is enough water in the basin It would saturate the soli to the very top, much In the same way as a sponge would absorb the water, or A lamp wick acts In conveying the oil rrom the bowl of the lamp to the end lhat la lighted. The finer the soli imrtlcles are the more water they M retain and bold as a film around Iheso particles. This Is moisture which the plants growing In such a oil may use. The harder the soil Is packed the more readily this capll-ury capll-ury water comes to the surface. The ooter this soli is the slower it comes, riils will explain why it Is necessary hen to use the packer or heavy roll-r roll-r to secure this firmness or soil in or-ler or-ler to bring the capillary water free-y free-y to the point or contact with the oots or the plants. Supposing the toll is packed and lert smooth on the uirface as the ordinary land roller eaves It, then the capillary water vould come rlgbt to the surface and he wind would lick it up with the leat and away It would go In the ilr. Any system of cultivation that vtll prevent this will cut off the chlm-leys, chlm-leys, so to speak, from coming right o the surface so that they discharge he moisture In the loose soli below he surface where Ihe plant roots are. lenee It Is that In a cultivated hoe rop, even In the driest time, one can vlth the use of his boot uncover the nolst soil. Often when walking and ooking back at one's foot prints the nolsture fhows at the surface of the lacked soli even when the loose sur-ii sur-ii re soil Is apparently dry. As the irdlnary land packer would not leave he surface as smooth as the round oiler, and It wouldn't have the same ffect In encouraging the evaporation )f the capillary water. It shouldn't e forgotten, however, that a harrow nay be used after the ordinary land oiler, and It will break up this waste it soli moisture by restoring the dust , danket. It should not be overlooked Ither that In bare fallowing the nd he surface soil becomes very finely ( Ivlded Into soli particles to some , epth, say eight or nine Inches, and ( his becomes a reservoir for the reten- Ion ot capillary water ror the crops 'hlch follow. The more and the finer his soil U worked the more water it , till hold and the surer one is of a rop in a dry climate or In a dry sea- ( on. In a test ntadn some years ago by , 'rof. F. II. King, the surface of the , nil was cultivated frequently to a epth of three Inches during a period , f forty-nine days while an adjacent , trip was untouched. Iloth pieces ( ere kept rree rrom weeds or other egetatlon. During the whole time ( he average dally loss of water was 4 48 tons per acre rrom the culti- ated ground and 1 7.6 tons on the un- , uttlvated land. This was a difference f 152.9 tons or water per acre In ser-n ser-n weeks In ravor or the cultivated ind. ir a man should attempt to haul his amount or water on to the land .1th teams he would have a stupen-us stupen-us undertaking, and yet the actual Ifference In loss of water must have een even greater than the amount hat could be measured, because the ppcr layers of tho sol! are always ' rawing up moisture from depths be-dw be-dw the lowest samples taken tor I nalysls. One team could not make inch headway hauling water tor a ' irty-acre field of corn during such a erlod of even weeks, but It could eadlly cultivate the field several mes and thereby conserve altogether ver 6,000 tons of water. The meas red saving In water was equal to 1 7 inches of ralnrall. |