116 Progressive Agriculture 



also slower. In this coarser soil there may be 

 less stooling. Consequently the total plant foli- 

 age would require less water and would exist as 

 long or longer than the plant in the fine textured 

 soil though there is less moisture per cubic inch in 

 the coarser soil. 



The tendency of all grain roots to go deeply after 

 stored moisture during prolonged dry periods 

 is the main reason why plants do not wither 

 as quickly in a sandy soil as in heavier, finer 

 textured soil upon which the same quantity 

 of water has fallen. The finer texture soil requires 

 much more watchful care and judgment as to the 

 time and manner of cultivation than the coarser, 

 more sandy soils. However, this careful extra 

 care, if intelligently applied to these finer soils, 

 brings greater returns in the end. 



WHEN TO USE THE SOIL AUGER 



Make borings early in the spring as soon as 

 frost conditions will permit in all your different 

 fields. Then observe by later borings the dif- 

 ference in the amount of moisture you have held 

 where you have double-disked and otherwise 

 cultivated the ground as compared to a field that 

 has not been cultivated. Make frequent borings 

 after rains for three or four days to observe how 

 this moisture percolates into the ground in 

 different soil conditions and at different grain 

 growing stages. Observe the difference in the 

 depth that a fairly heavy rain will percolate into 

 the soil that is already moist to a considerable 

 depth, as compared to the soil that is practically 



