CAMBPELI/S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 61 



In the latter lies the greatest danger, as a rule. If 

 the soil is too coarse and loose, then the air exists in too 

 large quantities, and the development of nitrates and bac- 

 teria is proportionately slow. 



The condition has proven to be most ideal when the 

 soil is thoroughly pulverized and closely compacted from 

 the bottom of the furrow up to within two to three inches 

 of the surface, while this surface layer of two or three 

 inches, should be loose and composed of fine and medium 

 lumps to allow of a free permeation of the air, and to 

 prevent the moisture being depleted below the proper 

 or normal quantity by surface evaporation. 



Another important advantage is gained by the pack- 

 ing of this lower portion of the furrow slice, and that is, 

 the increasing of the water holding capacity of the soil, 

 enabling us to carry our plants over long dry periods 

 without the least injury. There have been instances 

 where this one advantage alone has made a difference 

 of fifteen to twenty bushels per acre in the yield. 



MOVEMENT OF WATER IN SOIL. 



The movement of the water in the soil under varying 

 conditions of the soil and the surface should be well un- 

 derstood. A discussion of the subject may not seem of 

 interest to the average farmer, yet the well established 

 facts in regard to this subject have great weight when 

 carefully considered in connection with the preparation 

 of the soil for crops. It is a subject altogether too broad 

 and represents too much in dollars and cents to be held 

 back from general use by mere prejudice or the skepti- 

 cism that usually rises in the face of all new devices or 

 methods. 



Professor F. H. King, of the University of Wisconsin, 

 undoubtedly one of the most learned men in soil physics 



