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Show NEED OF CONSERVING WATER Necessity of Storing Moisture In Sell During Period of Wet Weather to Uh During Drouth. ! Tbe Nebraska experiment etstlon Bulletin No. 114, on storing moisture In the soli, Is a report of work done at the experimental station located at North I'lp.tte. It takes up the necessity neces-sity of storing water In the noil during dur-ing periods of wet weather, to be used during perlodii of drouth The chart Bhow that water In conserved con-served In the aoll through cultivation and that It la necessary to keep the surface of the soil loose and In a receptive re-ceptive condition to get the water Into the soil. Almost aa much water la (tot Into the soil during the early part of the season where a cultivated crop I being grown as Is conserved by summer sum-mer tillage. This Is due to the fact that the surface soil Is kept loose enough to hold the water thut falls until It can get down Into the soil, and the loose poll on the rurfaee prevents evaporation. It Is also due to the fact that comparatively few plants are being grown In a cultivated field, and these do not draw very heavily on the water supply during the early part of their growth. In a small gruln field more plants are grown, with the result that the water Is used more rapidly and leas water Is got into the soil. In fields growing alfalfa or brome grans, where the number of growing plants are large and the surface of the soil la smooth ami hard, It Is seldom that enough water gets Into the soil to moisten It bolow two or three feet. Ily the method of summer tilling practiced prac-ticed from 40 to 60 per cent, of the season's rainfall has been stored for the use of the subsequent crop. On this type cf soil the water In the upper up-per six feet Is available for the crop. |
