The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-07-09

when the material Is dry, burnfnA
 trash on those spots. When many | spots are present any treatment thus | far tried Is impracticabie, so that the
 alfalfa must be plowed under and after
 q year or two the land reseeded with alfalfa seed free from dodder seed. ii
 Is almost impossible to get a dealer to
 guarantee his seed free from this pest
 but in some samples of alfalfa seed
 there is little or no dodder. suggest
 that you correspond with seed dealers
 on this point ]. F. D.
 The Conservation of Soil Moisture. Wm. Read in Missouri Agricultural 1 College Farm.
 | The problem of conserving the mois-
 ture in the soil Is one that means Q matter of dollars and cents to the farm
 CT. It may help to a better aprrecla-
 tion of the need of retaining the soil
 moisture to mention first the ways of
 loss of the water which falls upon the
 fields and which does not contribute to l the making of the crops.
 Inc three chief ways by which this loss may occur are CD the running of | the surface, as generally takes place l on hiliy farms: t2) the water may pass downward to a depth beyond the roach or root action; or (8) by the evapora- | ton of the water from the surface of the ground. Generally the water which l Is most important fin the growth og q plant is that which passes through it. The water which evAporates from the l surface helps in a more or less indirect way by leaving the plant foods which Ii held in solution near the surface so that they can be used up by the roots. As to the quantity of water that can be retained in the soil. it may be said that we have no productive lands un- der field conditions which can retain as much as thirty pounds of water to 100 pounds of soil 1t is very exceptional to find lands under tillage which can retain in the upper five feet of soil as much as twenty Inches of water. Then, If there were no loss of water in any way, we could not reasonably count on | more than ten inches of the supposed twenty inches as being available for crop production.
 Now. in order for lands to do their best they should keep water content equal to from 70 to 50 per cent of sat- uration. This per cent of saturation is | seldcm If ever steadily retained. Sup pose we get the equivalent of a small average daily loss by evaporation from the soil. say twenty-five pounds per square foot. from May l to September i. This daily loss would amount to b.77 inches of rain in that length of time. During the same period we would have about an average rainfall of twelve inches. Deducting from this the loss of 5.77 inches, we should have remaining 6.23 inches to help in mak- ing the crop. Adding this to the ten inches we have supposed that might be withdrawn for crop purposes from the upper five feet of soil. we should then have 1928 inches of water avail able for crop production. If 1t were possible to have this quantity of water per acre over and above all loss, large yields would be certain so far as the water content was. concerned. But this is not the case. and the question naturally arises what can be done to conserve soil moisture7 Tn the first place blowing land in the fall greatly increases the per cent of water which the first three or four feet of that soil may contain the following spring. By blowing, the soil is opened up and ioosened, and the overturned earth serves as a mulch during the fall and again in tho spring Also the more uneven surface permits more of the melting snow and spring rains to soak down into the soil On hilly lands the uneven surface and furrows. if they are in such a direction as to diminish washing. will hold the winter snows and rains and give a more even distri- button of water in the soil in the spring.
 Another important way to get the best use of soii moisture is to stir the soil just as early as possible in the spring after the soil has reached a de- gree of dryness so that 1t will not suf- fer from puA4iing. A soil Is said to be puddled from blowing when the soil particles run together, and when 1t drys out the Jumps will be very hard. The reason for this earliest possible stirring in the spring is that the soil. after having been packed by the winter snows and early spring rains. loses water very rapidly. It may exceed twenty tons daily per acre. and may extend to a depth of over four feet Where the loss is very rapid delay in blowing will cause large clods to for m, and will make double the work for the farmer when he does begin to put his ground in good tilt.
 Again. early seeding is important in saving soil moisture and in utilizing it. | As soon as the crop gets possession of the field. 1t begins to use the water, which would evaporate. and possibly | also some of that which would 20 carrying with 1t a solution | as plant foods. Another ad- | of getting the crop In as early | as the soil will permit is that of sheI- | tering the ground oy the plants. This |
 
 faco. due to the drying action of the | crop.
 Soil moisture can be conserved by | proper tillage. Removing a layer of l soil and turning 1t bottom side up. | leaves 1t loose and in an open condi- l ton. and makes aa effective mulch To | scratch a field with a harrow without | leaving on top a complete layer of | loose crumbs, Is a good way to rob ! that field of moisture. If the ground is | cultivated by any tool so that grooves | are made. and ridges are left between | them untouched and only partly cov- | cred. the rate of evaporation If soil | moisture is certainly increased. The | depth to which a soil Is stirred is effec- | two ,n conserving the moisture. It has been found that on different folds | and in different seasons. that a larger 1 amount of water has been loft at the ! end of the season in soil that was stirred tn a depth of three inches than | in that which was stirred to depth | less than three inches. the deeper mulch | Is much more favorable. There are | number of other very important ways | of preserving the soil moisture, but !