Moisture of the Soil. 



485 



as to the proper use of this implement. As an implement to be 



used in the preparatioii of the soil for the reception of moisture, 



it stands pre-eminent. Good plowing does not consist — as O'rdi- 



narily supposed — in merely inverting a portion of the earth, 



but in pulverizing and fining it and burying the sod or refuse 



which mav be on the surface. The amount of water which a 



soil is capable of holding depends directly upon the fineness of 



its particles. Then that plow which will break and pulverize the 



soil most thoiro'Ughly is the ome best adapted tO' fit the soil for 



holding moisture. This point is well illustrated by King in his 



book on " The Soil." He says, " Since each independent soil 



grain of a moist soil is more or less completely surrounded by a 



film of water, it is evident that, other conditions being present, 



the largest aggregate surface area may retain the most water 



per cubic foot. Now, a cubic foot of marbles one inch in diameter 



possesses an aggregate surface of 27.7 square feet while if the 



marbles were reduced in diameter tO' one-thousandth of an inch, 



then the total area per cubic foot is increased to 37,700 square 



feet." From this it is evident that the total amount of water 



capable of being absorbed by a soil which is cloddy and lumpy 



is very slight in comparison with what it would be were it in a 



finely divided state; and not only is its absorbing power less, but 



its power of holding moisture is also greatly reduced. King 



found the rate of percolation from soils of different degrees of 



fineness to be as follows, the column of soil being eight feet in 



height : 



Time of Percol/vtion. 



This striking difference in the rate of percolation from soils of 

 different degrees of fineness shows most forcibh' the importance 

 of thorough pulverization of soils to increase their water absorb- 

 ing and moisture holding capacity. 



A large amount of water is lost during the winter and spring 



