1 6 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



water may be held as free water, filling the spaces among the 

 soil particles, or as film moisture, surrounding these particles 

 with a film. The latter condition is the one desired. Free 

 water shuts out the air and renders conditions unfavorable for 

 growth. The capacity of the soil for moisture can be increased 

 by underdraining, which improves the texture, by proper tillage, 

 which increases the depth of the tilled soil and pulverizes it more 

 thoroughly, and by the addition of humus, the latter being the 

 most important. Compare subsoil taken from the bottom of a 

 ditch or cellar with the same soil intermingled with decaying 

 humus, and the latter will be found to take up and hold decidedly 

 more moisture. This addition of humus also enables soils to 

 suffer less from wet weather, since it renders the soil lighter so 

 that water will drain away from it more quickly than from a 

 heavy soil. 



The soil having been put in condition to take up and hold the 

 greatest amount of moisture, the next problem is to so manipu- 

 late it as to prevent the waste of this water supply. Preventing 

 weed growth is the first means of accomplishing this result. 

 Every weed acts as an automatic pump to extract moisture from 

 the soil and throw it into the air. Destroying the weed checks 

 this loss. Even without weeds moisture is being given off from 

 the surface of the ground. To blanket this in some way to pre- 

 vent this loss, should be the object of summer tillage. A mulch 

 of straw will accomplish the result, but is impracticable except in 

 special cases. A shallow layer of dry dust will accomplish much 

 the same result. This can be had by frequent shallow cultiva- 

 tion, which enables the parts stirred to dry out quickly and 

 remain so. This breaks up the capillary movement of water 

 to the surface and holds it below. Gradually such a blanket 

 settles and re-established the connection. Every shower of rain 

 destroys it, hence cultivation must be frequent to be effective. 

 It should be shallow because every inch used for a dust blanket 

 is an inch taken from the effective soil in which roots can work. 

 Two inches will be deep enough for average conditions. In this 

 connection it should be remembered that cultivation never adds 

 one drop of water. It only helps to save what is already there. 

 To wait, therefore, until plants begin to suffer and then cultivate, 

 will do little good. 



