Capillary Attraction 



The Properties of Soil Water 



BERTHA BRONDY, 

 Twentieth Street Sehool, Los Angeles 



Water will rise through almost any 

 I'orous substance as a wick, a sponge 

 or the soil. The force which causes 

 oil, or water, or any other liquid to 

 rise through a porous substance, is 

 called capillary attraction. 



The water in the soil is always at 

 work. During rain, or whenever the 

 surface soil is wetter than the soil be- 

 low, the water passes down into the 



soil until it reaches a layer that it can 

 not pass. After a rain, the water pene- 

 trates into the soil. Then, when the 

 sun comes out, it draws the water out 

 of the soil and it evaporates into the 

 air. 



The passing off of water from a wet 

 surface into the air, is called evapora- 

 tion. In dry weather water evaporates 

 from the surface of the soil, and other 

 water from below rises to take its 

 place. In wet weather the water in 

 the soil tends to move downward. 



If you take two bottles about the 

 same size and fill one bottle up to the 

 top, and leave the other one empty, 

 then put a wick into the full bottle and 

 extend it over into the other bottle, 

 you will notice that the water passes 

 through the wick from the full bottle 

 into the empty one until there is an 

 equal amount of water in both bottles. 



ALMA DILLARD, 

 Los Angeles. Twentieth Street Sehool 



Soil water is a subject well worth 

 discussing, so I will write some points 

 about it. 



Soil water takes up and dissolves 

 nearly every substance that we see in 

 daily life, including air. Soil water is 

 important because it contains the chief 

 plant food and it acts as a carrier of 

 all the other plant foods that come 

 from the soil. 



Soil water contains many different 

 gases, nitrogen, carbonic acid, oxygen. 

 It causes iron to rust under water. The 

 substance that is most abundant in 

 water is lime. There is salt, a little 

 potash, phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid, 

 magnesia, iron, etc. Nitrogen is most- 

 ly taken from humus by the plant. It 

 is dissolved in the soil water in the 

 form of saltpeter. 



The dissolving action of water is due 

 to carbonic acid gas. Well water con- 

 tains more solid matter than river 

 water. Soil water is very different 

 from rain water; it contains all the 

 plant soil foods in solution. 



For the best growth of crops the 

 water content of soil should be at 

 about 50 to 60 per cent of the water 

 capacity of the soil. 



How He Works 



By RAY WALLACE 



In my garden I intend to plant pota- 

 toes, radishes, onions and carrots. 



The first thing I shall do will be to get 

 the ground in good condition, and then 

 I shall put my potatoes in. They should 

 be about five inches in the ground, and 

 as they grow I will hoe them. Some 

 people, when they plant potatoes, hill 

 them up the first thing, but I think they 

 grow better if the ground is just level, 

 and as the stalks grow up hoe them and 

 then pull the dirt around them. If the 

 cutworm bothers the potatoes I am 

 going to experiment by putting lime 

 on top of the ground in the morning. 



When I plant my radishes I will get 

 my dirt real fine and then plant the 

 seeds in rows about one inch deep and 

 cover them over with fine dirt; but first 

 I want to see that the seeds are not too 

 thick, because when they grow up they 

 will be in bunches and then they will 

 not grow well. If you put the seeds 

 half an inch apart they will be all right. 

 You don't have to measure, but just 

 guess at the distance. Your judgment 

 ought to tell you how far apart to plant 

 them. 



When I plant the onion seed the dirt 

 ought to be fine, so when the sprouts 

 come up they will not encounter any 

 lumps. They ought to be planted about 

 one inch deep and covered over with 

 fine dirt. 



For my carrots I will have the soil in 

 good condition and plant them about 

 one inch and a half apart and one inch 

 deep. Every night and morning they 

 should be sprayed with water and the 

 weeds kept down and the dirt loosened 

 so as not to form a crust. 



