The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1899-04-29
FARM AND GARDEN.
MATTERS OF INTEREST TO
AGRlCULTURISTS =
Some Up-to-Dats Hints About Cu1-
tivation of tho Soil and Yields
Observation-Disclosures viticultu1s and
Horticulture.
Soil Water and Crops.

Soil Water and Crops.
To make one ton Of dry matter IN
our grain crops, the use of from 800
to 500 tons of water is necessary. In
Wisconsin. King found that two-ton
crop of oat hay required over one
thousand tons of water per acre, equal
to about nine inches of rainfall. The
average rate for field crops at large
is given by European observers at 325
times the weight of dry matter pro-
duced, being at the rate of about three
inches of rainfall actually evaporated
through the plant.
10 evaporate this water it is neces-
sary that the ground containing the
roots should not be too full of water.
One would suppose that with water
flooding the roots of the plants the lat
ter would be able to take both food
and water with added ease, but such
Is not the case, except with aquatic
and semi-aquatic plants. With most
plants the action of the roots stop at
the point where they reach ttflood"
water. Thus If at the depth of eighteen
Inches flood" water be struck, the
roots below the eighteen inches will
cease to operate, and if the water con-
dition continue they will rot off. A
bulletin of the California experiment
station says on this point: ''This is
amply apparent in some of the irrigat-
ed orange groves of southern Califor-
MA, where the fine roots of the trees
hlI the surface soil as do the roots Of
maize in cornfield of the Mississippi
states; so that the plow can hardly
be run without turning them up and
under. In these same orchards it will
be observed, in digging down, that at
depth Of few feet the soil is too
Water-soaked to permit of the proper
exercise OF the root functions, and that
the roots existing there are either in
active or diseased. That in such cases
abundant irrigation and abundant fer
tllization alone can maintain an or
chard in bearing condition, is a mat
ter of course; and there can be no ques-
ton that great deal of the constant
cry for the fertilization of orchards in
the irrigated sections is due quite as
much to the shallowness of roofing
induced by over-irrigation, as to any
really necessary exhaustion of the
land. When the roots are induced to
come to and remain at the surface,
within surface layer of eighteen to
twenty inches, it naturally becomes
necessary to feed these roots abundant
ly, both with moisture and with plant
food. This has as naturally led to an
over-estimate of the requirements OF
the trees in both respects. Had deep
roofing been encouraged at first, in
stead of over-stimulating the growth
by surface fertilization and frequent ir-
rigation, some delay in bearing would
have been amply compensated for by
less of current outlay for fertilizers,
and less liability to injury from fire.
quently unavoidable delay, or from in
adequacy, of irrigation.''
The above is an illustration of the
necessity of having land we'll drained.
1t also shows why well-drained land
will stand drouth better than un-
drained land. On the latter kind OF
land the roots of plants remain near
the surface, and when drouth comes
they easily; dry up. On well drained
land the roots strike deep and when
drouth comes they are protected by
several feet Of earth in which is a fair
supply of capillary water.