Lincoln County times. (Jerome, Idaho) 1911-1919, 1912-03-21

some Of you in your work; for. after
all. each Of your individual problems
must be solved by yourselves.
The amount OF plant growth is de- !
pendent In a decided measure upon |
the amount OF moisture, within GER !
tain limits in the soil. The supplying
and maintaining of this moisture in
an amount which Will bring the great
est return is, then. our problem.
The water found in soils is OF three
kinds:
LIST. Free water or the water
found between the soil particles of
saturated soil.
End. Capillary water or that which
is held in thin film around each OF
the soil particles of a moist but not
, saturated soil. This is the water used
, by the plant in its growth.
Bird. Microscopic water which is
the water held by the soil but which
q in all probability is not used by the
2 plant.
l. Only aqueous or water plants can
4 grow in a soil containing free water.
s Hence our problem is confined 10 the
|. regulation of the capillary water only,
and to the conditions which govern
# plant growth.
}. There are three ways by which soil
n moisture can escape:
g LIST. BY sinking into deep soils out
s of reach of the plant roots, anc escap-
l. ing by under drainage.
a. End. BY evaporating from the sur
o face.
Is 3rd BY passing through the plant
n itself in a process known as trans
,e piration.
i'd Each of these losses can be gov
IS erned 10 a certain extent. The first
a. by making lighter applications OF
d water at each irrigation. The second
le or surface evaporation, can be check
es ed by cultivating the surface suffi
N cient to form a dust mulch. thus clos
ing up the opening of the capillary
# tubes which form when the surface
e. soil begins to dry out. And the thirC
as or Transportation can be checked b,
he the addition of soil fertility or by or
NJ binary cultivation. Thus, the last twi
20 can be governed by the simple opera
ton of stirring the surface after al
3" irrigation.
% The thought is prevalent anon
IN farmers that a certain amount Q
water must be used by plant in OF
on der TO produce a certain weight of DR.
ov- matter As early as 1899 Woodwar
of found that it required less water I
no produce a pound of dry matter In
plant growing in a rich soil where h
$50. plant food was evenly balanced. tina
in one OF opposite nature. Later,
ISIS, a German investigator foun
ND that the yield of dry matter va
Irt. greatest where Transportation VIZ
of least He also found that the enric
va. ing of the soil enabled the plant
bv produce dry matter with less waite
If. Now the question may arise in YOU
on, minds: Why should cultivation d
49, crease the amount Of water actual
t9' used by the plant? Cultivation pc
mits the air and sunshine TO enter II
)ng soil more readily. causing a cons
an quent liberation of plant food. whi'
is equivalent in effect to the addiiiC
by OF the food artifcially.
dis That cultivation actually decreas
ra. the amount of water used by u
49, plant is shown in the results of c
periments conducted at the Utah {
,i pertinent station in the vegetati'
,a '' house Certain tanks were planted
u's corn. An equal number of tanks &C
ou tanning the same kinds of soil we
VI left bare for a check on the evapoT
,sse ton from the surface. Forty Gig
i"s hours after each irrigation and tn
VI every week. half the surfaces we
w cultivated while the other half we
left bare. Table No. l shows the
90 suits.
ded 'NoNe W. T.