The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-04-18
WESTERN NATURE STUDIES
FURTHER REMARKS ON ARID FARMING.
By J. H. PAUL.

Dr., asrimating the relative value OF
ali. that part which is insoluble is
.darad of no use as plant food
l5-qa plants can take their food only
.rr form of weak solutions in the
.n moisture. I'm general eastern
-.r5v soil is found 10 contain about
seo rer cent of matter that is insolu-
bIe and clay So per cent OF insoluble
s--bsr4n-r. Western arid sandy soil
d.. .rfv Se1 per cent insoluble matter
and western arid clay soil only 5S.T per
cont that is iusoluble-
Tho amount of soluble silica IN the
sail is also Indicative of the degree OF
s--frfrT Eastern surface, sandy SOIL
has only 13 per cent Of soluble silica;
..srr~r clay I.j per cent. and eastern
zIbeau. 80 per cent of soluble silica
western soils contain. on the aver
su. @ Der cent more of soluble silica
-rFr the eastern soils possess.
Humid and Arid Soils Compared.
D. will bo observed that the insoluole
r-edue is more abundant in humid
,s-a1 fn arid soils. in the ratio Of "a to
81 This is because more teaching or
,,esrfre out of the soil ingredients &C
ours where much rain falls. The sol
rb-e silica is very abundant in the soils
of arid regions. making them less
sticky than those of wet regions. A
large percentage of lime and magne-
sfa is found i'm arid Soils helping 10
make them quite uniformly productive
unGar irrigation. These soils show high
percentages of soluble matter because
sufficient ia u and moisture fail to de-
compose the rocks into soil but not
enough Co remove them from the soil
bv eachiug Arid soils lack numus.
which is the abandoned life tissues Of
plants and animals going back into
.arbunie acid. water. nitrogen and
ashes Humus is found i'm greatest
abundance i'm the humid temperate re-
ef0ns. 90 is the food of microscopic life
in tle soil. and is largely produced
from leaves eaten by earth worms.
which turn them into a black mould.
To is like a manure in furnishing food
to plants The humus Of arid regions.
while smaller i'm quantity, is richer IN
quality than that of the humid re-
gi1us. that IS it contains more nitro
gen. avera ging three times as mucu;
and nitrogen is the most expensive and
difficult of plant foods to supply to the
soils
Fertile Western Soils.
Western soils. therefore. are natural
Ir fertile. They contain an abundance
of plant food. which may be made
AVA liable If water can ne stored in the
SOIL Usually there is sufficient rain
md snowfall i'm winter to produce fair
rops on the dry soil. even when no
rain falls during the growing season,
provided. however, that the winter
moisture can be stored. For irrigated
farms. we store water in reservoirs
somewhere above the lands TO be IT.
ueated. For dry farms. we store Wa
fer .n soil reservoirs beneath the sur
face of the land. All that is necessary
u order to do this is to have a UNI
form soil of sufficient depth. say six
feet or more before reaching hardpau
n- impervious clay or porous gravel y
soil alternately clay, sand. gravel etc,
is not good for dry farming y thin
a0r soil than six feet viii hold the
water. but il viii get too hot II the
water is kept say within twelve inches
H the surface by a hardpan at that
'r7th. The water must sink to a con-
I3orahe depth i'm order that il may De
IaNn zap by the plants as needed.
Forms of Soil Water.
Soil water exists ia three forms. The
first form is known as free water.
which is water occupying the largest
spaces between soil particles. Free
water either flows through the SOL or
stands iu IT, But when the free water
moves. it always goes downward. being
controlled by the force of gravity
Even when the free water moves later
ally. it is seeking lower Level and
therefore also moving downwards
Free water is not used directly by
plants. but only as it supplies capillary
water above it in the soil. The second