The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1897-12-14

S0S lao SAo O4sSS Ou u UlSC u6ErOW,
every wheel having a wedge shaped
tire. The object Of this is to puIveriize
clods and pack dirt into all large
pockets that might be made By sods or
'clods and which would be dried out By,
the air. .. . .-.---1 --1s2-i i7Fo,' Il -
Deep blowing or subsoiling in the
spring may do more harm than good.
The ground having remained hard all
winter the waters Of the winter rains
and SHOWS have run # and been lost,
and the deep blowing only serves to let
the air into the subsoli to dry out what
little moisture it has. Had the deep
plowing been done in the fall the vacant
spaces below would be flied with water
instead of air, '+--'- go -''7 --.-,
The results reached at the Kansas
Station agree very closely with Mr.:
2Campbelt's philosophy. Soils were
tested for moisture throug out the
season in both open fields and in pots
ThIs was done by driving q hollow tu6e
into the soil twelve inches, withdrawing
it, removing the soil from it's hollow
and heating this soil in q pan to drive
off all moisture. The difference in
weight before and after heating gives.
the weight OF moisture it contained.
It was found that an undisturbed
prairie sod land was much tdrier in
dry time than adjoining cultivated
land, doubtless because the grass ex
hausted the moisture of the soil. ss.' q
! A comparison the loss of water from
soil that was treated as follows: Cuitl
waited, but not cropped; mulched, but
not cropped !; cropped, but not cutti
waited; untreated. The cropped soil
dried out most rapidly. Next the hn:
treated soil. Surface cultivation to a
depth of four or five inches was about
as effective in conserving moisture as
a good mulch. -.. ' t-.- .
Experiments with soil in galvanized
iron pots, under we'll controlled condi
tions, showed !: That layer of finely
pulver z9d soil only three fourths Of
an inch thick had no marked influence
on the rate of evaporation; that hay
mulch two inches thick checks evapo
rstien most effectively, but that evapo
ration preet eds at so rapid rate from
bare soil that a mulch to be most use.
tul, must DE promptly applied that the
rate OF evaporation from sandy soil
is less than that from one less sandy
when both are kept constan5ly wet, but
it elto we'd TO dry the sandy soil becomes
much drier; that neither salt, gypsum,
lime nor nasgnesi I'M chloride exerts
any beneficial 'effect in checking evap
oration from the soil, the evaporation
being practically the same as from un.
treated soil. . I-s'' -G4 ...E.
In close, retentfve soil, such as the
one under trial, crops viii often suffer
when the proportion of water is re
duced as low as 10 or II per cent. be
cause moisture cannot move through
the soil to the roots of plants fast
enough to supply the water evaporRJed
from the plant. When this is the
minimum below which plants will sdf
fer there is twice as much avaiiabte
water in the soil when it contains 18
per cent. as when il contains ii per
cent, This is realty7the proper view OF
the matter The practical QUESTION is,
what is the relative amount of water
that any given soil can. furnish plants
rapidly enough for their Jneedsos An
other question is, how an,the qsoiI be
manipulated that it will contain. in the
time of need greater supply of avail
able Water9- Since the cultivated sod
had about twice as much Gav6iIabie
water as the uncultiVaSed the efficiency
OF this method OF saving moisture is
apparent. &C 55a'y 9--J. E. LADD. (
BaFC City Texas. o. @Cl,o Il i