TILLAGE FOE THE OECHAED-III 



SPRING AND SUMMER TILLAGE TO CONSERVE MOISTURE. 



BY 



PROF. J. B. REYNOLDS, 



O. A. C, GUELPH. 



A NOTED farmer of Ohio, speaking 

 to a gathering of Ontario farmers 

 a few years ago, said : " If I have 

 a sufficient supply of moisture in the soil lO 

 begin with, I can make sure of a good crop 

 without summer rains." 



There are, for us, three important ques- 

 tions here implied : How much moisture 

 is required for a " sufficient supply," have 

 we that quantity to begin with in the spring, 

 and how may we make sure of a crop with- 

 out depending upon summer rains? 



I. How much precipitation makes a suffi- 

 cient moisture supply? 



The answer to this question depends very 

 largely upon the character of the soil, its 

 power to retain moisture, its drainage pro- 

 perties, and the depth to which the subsoil 

 allows the water to penetrate. It depends, 

 also, in part, upon the character of the crop, 

 whether deep or shallow-rooted. But sup- 

 posing that a well-drained soil is to be satu- 

 rated to a depth of four feet, it will require, 

 ordinarily, a precipitation for the fall and 

 winter of about twelve inches to accomplish 

 this. Anything m.ore than that amount 



must be removed by drainage, or penetrate 

 to a greater depth, or if it cannot penetrate, 

 must run oflf the surface. 



2. Have we in Ontario this sufficient quan- 

 tity of moisture with which to carry to com- 

 pletion the season's crop? 



Below are diagrams showing the average 

 monthly precipitation for points in Ontario. 

 Montreal, without much error, may be taken 

 to represent the extreme east of Ontario; 

 Ottawa, the middle east; Toronto the mid- 

 dle, and Port Arthur the west. Hali- 

 fax, N. S., and Prince Albert, Sask., are 

 also shown for the sake of comparison. In 

 these diagrams iwo items are worthy of con- 

 sideration : The total annual precipitation 

 at each locality, and the distribution of the 

 precipitation over the year. These items 

 may be represented in figures as follows : 



Inches. OcttoMar. Apr. toPpp. 



Port Arthur .. 23.70 



Toronto . . . . 31.08 



Ottawa 33.93 



Montreal .... 40.49 



Halifax 57-21 



Prince Albert. 15.06 



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Fig. 2569. DtA ;ram 8h )Wi.vg Ndrmal Precipitation in Inches, at Points in Canada. 



