Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-05-20

were-(l, rapid evaporation from the sur
face %, the water OF the lower strata
quickly drains off-in very short tlme'
depending on the coarseness OF the sand,
its depth, and the distance to permanent
water, the field is depleted of water and
must be flooded again. Thus we see that
by this method also much larger amount
of water is required to irrigate coarse
than a finer soil. If now 1t is desired to
grow
sURFACE-RooTED PLANTS,
As the cereals, corn, etc, it may readily
be seen, other things being equal, that our
sandy soils are not desirable ; and, in fact,
those crops will not do well in sandy soils
except they be constantly irrigated. There
is, however, class OF crops which Is
adapted to such soils. 1t is made up OF
those crops which extend their roots to a
long distance in the soil, and which more
or less shade the ground. Alfalfl Is well
known example of this class Of plants, and
it is often successfully grown where almost
anything else would succumb to the
drought. If, as we have said before, sandy
soils be mixed with humus or fine mineral
matter, the microscopic and capillary CO.
efiicients are often so largely increased as
to effectually protect the surface roots
from the heat of the sun. Vita clay ana
alluvial soils, whose microscopic and capll-
larry coetlicients are so much greater than
those of sand, and sufficiently great to Sc
cure moisture from depth OF three to
four feet, we are not so dependent on arti-
fetal irrigation. In such soils the irrlga-
ton tile may be laid to greater depth than
in sandy soils, thus increasing the depth to
which food roots may descend, and also the
drainage and filth of the soil. Soils may
either be too leachy, as coarse sand, IN
which case the rain and irrigation water
runs right through and leaves the surface
almost dry; or they may be too compact,
as heavy claws, which are often so much so
that the water often stands on their surface
until removed by evaporation. Such ex
treme soils are almost valueless, especially
in our California climate. The remedy for
leachy soils is 10 incorporate vegetable and
fine mineral matter with it, and to plant
deep-rooted
LARGE FOLIAGED PLANTS.
For too compact fine soils, constant tillage
and thorough drainage is the best, if not
the only remedy. A perfect state of filth
in clayey soils can only be secured by intel
lgent and persevering cultivation. Clay
soils titled out of season are injured rather
than benefited. A few hundred pounds of
lime sowed broadcast over clay soils, and
thoroughly mixed in, will do more, and in
fact viii quite effectually reduce the
i - =
effect produced by the second season is
quite perceptible. The soil then. instead
of drying in hard cakes, which are parted
by assures, crumble up to fine powder, and
in the future the soil Will work more like a
sandy loan than ike pipe clay. This
remedy IS so simple, so available and SO
cheaply applied as TO be worthy of trial by
every farmer who has even an acre of re-
fractory soil. 1t is the capillary water of
the soil which furnishes most OF the water
of evaporation. During dry seasons, in
soils where the capillary water reaches the
surface there is a continual ascent of moist.
ure from the subsoil to the surface for each
particle of moisture WHICH is eyaporated
and passes into the atmosphere must be
replaced by another, and which is drawn
up from the sub.strata Of the soil. This
constant upward current of water during
the greater portion of the year tends
largely to the retention of the soluble
inorganic salts within reach of the plant
roots. Those mineral and organic sub
stances which are held in solution by the
soil water are
TO \ LARGE EXTENT
Fixed by the soil from the descending rain
and irrigation water. This fxation often
occurs at so great depth below the sur
face as to be practically out of reach of the
plant But during the warm and growing
season when rapid evaporation is going on,
they are redissolved in the ascending cur.
rents OF capillary water, and are carried up
and deposited in the soil, where they are
available to the plant roots.
Those materials which are not used by the
seasons crop accumulate in the soil, where
they remain until rain falls, when they are
again washed down in the subsoil to remain
until evaporation again sets in, when they
are again placed at the disposal of the
plants by the ascending currents of capil-
larry water. We see then, that one of the
functions of capillary water is to act as
carrying medium between the subsoil and
the soil, and to keep supervision, as it
were, over the nutritive matters of the
soil to keep the roots of plants bathed in
current of moisture and in contact with
their inorganic food. The circulation of
water through the soil by capillary action
increases the food supply by increasing the
soluble effects of the liquids OF the soil upon
the inorganic materials of the soil. The
capillary action of the water in the soil de-
ponds mainly on the temperature and the
state OF the atmosphere, and, secondly, on
the nature of the soil. When the atmos.
phere is saturated with mo sture, that Is,
contains all it can retain, the evaporation
from the soil must cease. When this is
the case the capillary water of the soil re-
mains stationary, or, perhaps, has a slight
descending motion, If the drainage be good.
This is the condition of things during rains
or heavy fogs.
IN ORDINARY SUMMER WEATHER
The atmosphere is less than one.h half satu-
rated, and hence evaporation goes on com.
rapidly. The temperature, too,
largely influences the amount of evapora-
tlOn. ObHei tIiih5o OOinS Sdueij VIC S'1P-
Grafton increases with the rise of the
but if the atmosphere be
extremely dry, rapid evaporation may
even take place from fields of ice and snow.
When the atmosphere is saturated with
water vapor the soil absorbs water from
the atmosphere. The rapidity of this alb
sorption depends upon the nature and fine
ness of the soil, and of the amount of
moisture contained in it. The absorptive
power of the soil is thus aeen to decrease
the loss of moisture by evaporation, and
this it is which accumulates much OF the
plant-food from the atmosphere. In ex
periments made upon different grades of
soil, by thoroughly saturating with water,
allowing the excess to drip of, and then
computing the per cent gained in weight,
it was found that the relative amounts alb
sorbed increased with the fineness of the
soil. Quartz sand retained about one
fourth of its weight of water, light clay
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