Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1900-12-21
Aarifnltural.
Moisture Required for Crops.

Everybody knows that vegetation re-
quires for its growth and perfection large
amounts of water, but :ew realize how
large a quantity of moisture is really
needed for growing farm crops. 1t has
been said by those who have investigat-
ed the question that single oak tree Of
good size has been known to lift through
its trunk and evaporate though its foil
age 1913 tons Of water in month when
it was in leaf. Those who are curious
upon the subject can try the experiment
in small way by taking a wide-nouth
bottle and setting plant having a good
root and leaf system into it, and then
filling the bottle about two-thirds full Of
water, and closing the mouth of the bot
tie through which the stem Of the plant
comes, by FASTING paper over the mouth
Of the bottle in such Q way that no
evaporation shall take place except
through the stem and leaves of the
plant. The bottle should be weighed
when prepared, ..and at frequent intervals
after wards The experiment is an in
teresting one, and it has the advantage
that all object lessons possess of Impress
ing the facts in regard to the moisture
evaporated through plants in such way
as that they shall never be forgotten -
When the loss of moisture through the
plant has been ascertained for a given
time, multiply the amount of it by the
number Of such plants that usually stand
on an acre, and the aggregate will be
found to be surprisingly large
Carefully conducted experiments with
Q number Of crops show that to make
ton of water-free dry matter in q corn
crop requires 2 43S acre inches of water.
Oats require a shade over FIVE acre
inches to make a ton Of dry matter I;
clover 5 355 acre-inches, and potatoes
4.283 acre-inches An acre-inch will
weigh 103 20 tons, and to produce
ton of dry matters in corn will there
fore require about 26l tons of water
in oats 5l6 tons in clover $50 tons,
and in potatoes 452 TONS
The figures given show simply the
amount of water that must be Ovapor-
ated through the plant in order to secure
the amount Of growth indicated Ma
lures way Of watering crops is very
wasteful. Of the rain that falls, some
is lost by percolation downward, much
of it runs of by surface drainage, and
some Of it falls in showers SO small as
to do injury rather than good, for the
reason that it destroys the effectiveness
of soil mulches without contributing
materially to plant growth. A great
deal of what falls is also evaporated
from the surface Of the soil.
These facts serve to impress upon ev-
cry farmer the necessity for such TN eth
DDS Of cultivation. continuously pursued
during growing time, as will conserve to
the growing plants as large proportion
as possible of the moisture that descends
from the clouds. The amount which
plants necessarily take through their
stems and foliage 10 order to make a
given growth is enormous. With the
losses that are inevitable through per-
collation., surface draining aud surface
evaporation, it stands the farmer well in
hand to prevent as much Of the loss as
possible, or there will not be remaining
an amount. sufficient to supply the real
needs of the giant in any except IN
usually wet seasons