No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 385 



these be so plentiful or of eucb a nature as to endanj-iir soil capil- 

 larity, when turned under the bulk should be removed before plow- 

 ing is begun. In any case they should be turned to sufficient depth 

 to be out of the reach of tillage imj)lements, to secure their speedy 

 decay, and to prevent their interference Avith capillarity. 



2. The second purpose is the securing of ample root pasturage 

 for the coming plant. This requirement dilTeis with different plants, 

 since some are more deeply rooted than others. The potato, the 

 beet, the clovers and some others are notable examples of deeply 

 rooted plants; while the smaller cereals are shallow rooted. But all 

 require far more room than is generally supposed. Corn, for ex- 

 ample, has been termed a shallow rooted plant. So it often is, of 

 necessity. While the majority of its roots run near the surface, 

 because of the greater amount of available plant food there, many 

 of its roots run to considerable depth. I have broken the roots of a 

 hill of corn thirty inches high, at a distance of nearly two feet below 

 the surface, and found in a mass of soil three feet in diameter a net- 

 work of roots permeating the mass. A cornfield whose plants 

 have reached the height of three feet will be found permeated from 

 row to row with roots, many of which, if they have an opportunity, 

 will extend at least two feet below the surface, showing the necessity 

 of an occasional deeper preparation than is usually given this plant, 

 if the effects of August drouth are to be avoided. 



3. The third purpose of the preparation of the seed bed is most 

 vital, and may be said to be the supreme one. It is to bring the soil 

 into most intimate contact with the hair-like rootlets of the plant. 

 It must be remembered that the plant food held in solution by the 

 soil moisture is absorbed chiefly by these hair roots, and not by the 

 larger ones. That at the point of contact of the soil with these 

 rootlets there is a kind of digestive process that goes on, in which 

 an acid exudes from these rootlets, corrodes and transforms insolu- 

 ble plant food coming in contact with these roots, and thus prepares 

 it for absorbtion and circulation. If, therefore, the soil is not well 

 fined and compacted the rootlets cannot reach it and the plant must 

 starve. 



4. The fourth purpose is to conserve moisture for dissolving plant 

 food. It must be understood that in the measure of the fineness of 

 the soil particles will be the soil's capacity to hold moisture. Not 

 only this, but the extent of this pulveriation measures the size of 

 the reservoir. 



5. Another purpose is to bring from beneath the surface soil fer- 

 tility that had leached down. It will often be found in old cultivated 

 fields that there is more potash, for exam])le, in the second four 

 inches of soil than in the first four inches; and sometimes more in 

 the second eight inches than in the first eight. The tendency of all 



25—6—1901 



