Page SO 



BETTER FRUIT 



Conserving the Moisture of the Soil 



NEXT to temperature, moijlurc i? proh- 

 Mx the controlling factor in the 

 growth of plants. The importance of an 

 adequate «upph- of moisture is most strik- 

 ingly demonstrated In regions of deficient 

 rainfall where Irrigation is necessary for the 

 growth of the crops (arid regions), but it 

 is no less important in regions where the 

 rainfall is usually considered sufficient for 

 the needs of crops (humid regions). Not 

 only must there be a sufficient supply of 

 moisture, but it must be properly distributed 

 throughout the growing season. It is well 

 known that crops may be injured in a season 

 that shows a high total rainfall, because 

 there is deficient rain just at the stage where 

 the plant needs it most. 



Under all circumstances, therefore, it 

 should be the farmer's aim to conserve the 

 moisture in the soil in the arid regions to 

 reduce as much as possible the labor and 

 expense of irrigation, and in humid regions 

 to protect crops against droughts. Various 

 means may be employed for the purpose of 

 conserving and economizing the moisture 

 supply of soils. 



Subsoiling is one of the most important 

 of these means. Several of the stations have 

 made careful studies of the influence of 

 subsoiling on soil moisture. The Wisconsin 

 station describes this influence substantially 

 as follows: Subsoiling (1) increasese the 

 storage capacity of the soil for moisture, and 

 (2) increasese the rate at which water will 

 sink into the soil, but (3) decreases the rate 

 at which it may be brought back to the 

 surface. Subsoiling also increases the amount 

 of moisture available to crops, since plants 

 are capable of utilizing a larger proportion 

 of the moisture present in loose and coarse 

 grained soils than of those in fine grained 

 and compact soils. 



As regards the best methods of subsoiling, 

 a report of the Wisconsin station states: 



"Subsoiling to be most effective should 

 be done in such a way as to leave the soil 

 loose, much as the stubble plow leaves it. 

 To accomplish this much will depend upon 

 the character of the tool and more upon 

 the condition of the soil when the work 

 is done. If the soil is so wet as to be plastic 

 when the plowing is done, then the effect 

 of the subsoil plow' will be to wedge the 

 portion of the soil which is heavily pressed 

 into an even more compact and close texture 

 than before, and thus develop a condition, 

 the opposite of that sought. To simply form 

 a long groove or channel in the subsoil by 

 wedging the dirt aside gives little aid in the 

 direction sought. Such work then, if done 

 at all, should be done itself when the sub- 

 soil itself is dry enough, and this is most 

 likely to occur in the fall after the crop of 

 the se.ason has withdrawn the moisture from 

 it. Subsoiling late, too, leaves no time for 

 the soil to lose its open texture before the 

 rain to be stored reaches it." 



In humid regions, as a recent bulletin 

 of the California station points out, the soil 



as a rule is underlaid at a comparatively 

 short distance below the surface by a sub- 

 soil which the roots of the plant penetrate 

 with difficulty and from which they can 

 draw little nourishment. The roots, there- 

 fore, spread out near the surface, and the 

 plants require frequent irrigation or rains 

 to sustain life. A suspension of either rain 

 or irrigation for ten days or two weeks 

 under these conditions usually results in 

 injury to the plant. Under such conditions 

 subsoiling encourages deep rooting, and thus 

 enlarges the stock of water as well as the 

 plant food at the command of the plant. In 

 many parts of the regions of deficient rain- 

 fall as in southern California, plants (espe- 

 cially fruit trees) are capable of withstand- 

 ing months of drought. This is claimed to 

 be due to the fact that "in arid regions, as 

 a rule, subsoils in the eastern sense do not 

 exist; the soil is readily penetrable to great 

 depths." 



This can be done in humid regions, to 

 some extent at least, by thorough prepara- 

 tion and tillage of the soil and in the case 

 of fruit trees, by guarding against excessive 

 surface fertilization. In arid regions fre- 

 quent irrigation, it is claimed, encourages 

 shallow rooting. 



To prevent loss of water from the soil by 

 evaporation it is necessary to check the rise 

 of water by capillarity to the surface of the 

 soil. As already noted, this is accomplished 



October, 1921 



to some extent by subsoiling, but in order 

 that the work partly accomplished by the 

 subsoiling may be completed and finished, 

 the surface of the soil must be kept covered 

 by a mulch of loose, well-tilled soil by 

 means of frequent tillage. Some experi- 



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