186 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



ferred for corn. The discussion of this point must be reserved until the yields of 

 corn from the different plots are examined. 



In connection with the effect of deep cultivationon the distribution of soil moisture, 

 the effect of frequent and infrequent cultivation should be noted. In the east strip 

 the third foot in Plot 4. infrequently cultivated, has more moisture than any other 

 plot at the corresponding depth. Plot 4 of the west strip has more moisture in the 

 second foot than any other plot at the corresponding depth. And the average of 

 the second and third feet for Plot 4 on each strip is higher than that of any other 

 plot of the same strip. The average moisture for two feet below the first foot is as 

 follows: 



The difference in moisture as indicated by these figures is small, it is true, but 

 each of these amounts is the average of fifty-six samples. This fact and the farther 

 one that the duplicates agree exactly indicates that the results are not a matter of 

 chance. 



We believe that they go far toward confirming the following propositions: 



First, thorough and frequent cultivation conserves moisture and increases the 

 total amount available for the crop. 



Second, such cultivation concentrates the moisture near the surface, where it is 

 more readily secured by the plants. 



The growth of corn on adjacent strips on soil differing in fineness, the other condi- 

 tions being the same, gives an opportunity for determining something as to the 

 amount of water the crop was able to secure from the two iiinds of soil. Approach- 

 ing the subject from the other side, the following short table shows the decrease in 

 moisture per square foot of horizontal area to a depth of three feet. In the first 

 column of the table is given the pounds of water at the beginning of the season in 

 a section of soil a foot square in horizontal area and three feet deep; in the second 

 and third columns the same facts for August 9th and September 7th, respectively, 

 and in the fourth and fifth columns the decrease of moisture in pounds to the dates 

 given: 



East strip, lighter soil... 

 West strip, heavier soil. 



We have no means of determining the upward flow of water from below the depth 

 of three feet, nor the amount of rain water utilized by the crop in each case. It 

 will appear later that the yield on the heavier soil was less than on the lighter, 

 confirming seemingly the indications of the above figures that the lighter soil actually 

 supplied more moisture than the heavier, notwithstanding the larger water holding 

 capacity of the latter. This is contrary to the usual belief and is worthy of mention. 



THE YIELD OF CORN. 



The corn was cut with a harvester Septemt>er 10th and 12th, and immediately 

 drawn to the barn, weighed and cut into a silo. Samples were talien before cutting 

 for the determination of dry matter. The ends of all the rows and the side rows of 

 each plot were rejected. The harvested portion was thus limited to three rows (in 

 all eleven and one-quarter feet wide, and five hundred and ninety-five feet long). At 

 the time of harvest no difference in the growth of the corn plots 2, 3 and 4 of either 

 strip could be detected. It was all large and well eared. The corn on Plot 1 was 



