| Show WATER CONTENTS OF PLANTS clay hold more moisture Mol sturt than good loama coams but they give 40 I 1 per cent less legs 0 an acre of water equals als tons tena heans deans use tons of water peas use ise 4 17 tons corn tons clover tons oats oata tons millet tons buckwheat toua tons millet and buckwheat are often planted during slimmer bummer drout lis and succeed but the above will show that it la Is their ability to go after water that causes thorn them to grow not small water consumption i on as in ili tho the case with corn which u usaa but 2 tons of water clay soils h hold old ak great deal more water than good loanis but they will give up less ess about 10 40 per cent as against 92 per cent with sandy loams coams sand and gravel will give up water but it escapes by gravitation downward and it cannot rise by capi capillarity larity qs as in W a clay soil it will bu be seen from the above now how much consideration must be given to other factors than rainfall and why tome in ili regions of heavy precipitation WITO tore always bucking drouth on account of soil and crops whilst EL a man in a far more marib arid region who has worked out these questions Is doing fairly well Itus russian sian thistle and sweet clover are two moro more plants that use a great deal of water and yet succeed in dry regions and again we have mila maize and other sorghums sorg hums that resist drouth by remaining t dormant whilst crops like corn may be blasted beyond re call no matter how much rain falls 4 A crop of rye or weeds turned under will often furnish the humus to arrest and hold water to grow crops on a too porous soil but such result will not occur until the crop has rotted at least in part and filled in between betheen the tha dirt particles |
