Arizona republican., 1912-04-09

deeper than other crops and when taken out leaves it's tenuous auXil iary roots in the ground These con- stitute a well distributed supply of indispensable organic matter which is readily changed to humus, a very | permanent soil constituent which | forms its digestive element with abil ] ity to render harmless soil toxins. | The soil is also loosened up which | permits proper breathing, so 70 speak. | ! and this in turn accomplishes the | destruction of harmful organic mat 1 ter by oxidzation and the direct es- ! cape of injurious gases. performing a | | function for the soil which closely ] approximates that which she lungs l I perform for human beings. Beet cul- l ture also insures a favorable con l Jition for the retention in thes soil of the proper amount of moisture. Unless the farmer were able to sell at a satisfactory profit his crop of
 beets he would practically be de 1 prived of their immense indirect ad- l vantages. But this he is able to 1 do because of the fact that they 1 may be converted into sugar He is
 never at loss for a market since
 the factories for the extraction of
 sugar are scattered throughout the | many states where the sugar beet has become a highly favored crop. l The commercial and agricultural in 1 terest in beets has grown up side l by side and the prospect is that | the United states will in the future l be able to produce it's own sugar Il and that the farmer may add % the | agricultural wealth of the country through increased yields of crops oth
 CT than sugar beets about two billion dollars year. This can only be ac- complished however through the per II petuation of the domestic sugar in 'I dustry. which gives the farmer a profitable market for his crop.
 II Too much moisture in the soil, or
 an over-supply of soil blool. is
 simple ailment which the soil doctor Is usually able to overcome by pre-
 scribing the proper drainage systems Too little moisture is q more com plex trouble but the soil doctor not infrequently finds that. it IS due to miscOnception on the part of the farmer as to the CirculatOIy nature of the soil Contrary to popular be- lief moisture win not pass upward by capillary attraction from a layer of moist soil to one which is dry
 Cultivating a field serves a double
 purpose. It not only permits che
 greatest amount of water tO soak
 into the soil but brings about its I retention once it is stored. If the surface of the soil is cultivated ire !. quently during d drought and thus kept perfectly dry evaporation is pre-
 vented ra ther than increased. A lab
 oratory test in the soil doctors office, station. proves this conclusiveiy Two
 cylinders six feet long are filled with soil of equal moisture and the lower
 ends of the cylinders are placed in water. Over the surface of one tube
 current of cool air is blown while
 over the other passes current Of hot air The natural presumption . would be that the warmer air, rais- ing the temperature of the soil woukl increase evaporation and con seuuent waste of moisture. The eX-
 act reverse is the fact since the | warm air forms a crust upon the sur face of the soil and when this is ac- u complished the moisture below ceas-
 es to move upward In the tube where the soil surface remains com I paratiVely cool and moist, eVapora - t ton is much more rapid. The same conditions obtain in the open field : and it for this reason that the soil doctor prescribes frequent surface t cultivation in times of little rain. This peculiar action of soil moisture is the secret of the so-called dry
 | farming.
 The new profession makes it pos sible for the farmer nowadays 70 ac-
 complish the selection of the proper
 fertilizer for his land in from ten to , twenty days whereas formerly years y might have been consumed in the
 same process with less success. In 5 stead of experimenting with whole
 fields the soil doctor conducts eX- | periments with small quantities ol - earth taken from the fields under e investigation. A number of baskets II are made of wire mesh and after be-
 ing filled with earth are dipped III
 boiling paraffine and an impervious p coating formed on the earth. After n an analysis fertilizers of different 'i kinds and in different quantities arc '' added to the soil which goes into tho 't small baskets. Wheat seedlings per c. haps are grown in each pot. By . al simple process of selection and elim- h ination the desired formula for fer tilizer is obtained and this is theI 'l applied to the farmers field.