California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



SCIENCE OF CULTIVATION. 



There is one queHtiou that is of cousiderable 

 importauce iu its bearing upon the matter of 

 the best cultivation for our climate, which we 

 would like the opinion of the best philoso- 

 phers and scientists upon in a practical man- 

 ner. We feel decided upon it already in our 

 own mind, but see that others difl'er widely 

 from us. We believe that all questions of 

 science and natural philosophy are as capable 

 of absolute demonstration as are questions iu 

 mathematics. But a wrong comjirebension 

 and interpretation of facts, and a little false 

 reasoning, will terribly warp one's under- 

 standing, even upon questions apparently ea- 

 sily callable of proof conclusive. 



As differing in the main from us, we copy 

 below something from the Mecord- Union upon 

 " California's climatic phenomena, consid- 

 ered in reference to agriculture :" 



AGEICULTUKAL EFFECTS. 



" We have stated that the reason why Cali- 

 fornia suffers less from drought, during her 

 long, dry seasons, than most other countries 

 do if they fail to have rain every few weeks, 

 is traceable to the same cause that produces 

 her cold nights— namely, her dry atmosphere. 

 This proposition at first thought, we know 

 seems impossible ; but it is nevertheless true, 

 and is accounted for upon simple i)hilosophi- 

 cal principles. We will endeavor to explain 

 it. The temperature of the soil partakes of 

 the temperature of the surrounding atmos- 

 phere, and all the heat of the soil comes 

 from the sun through the atmosphere. We 

 have shown that a wet atmosphere retains 

 the heat during the night, while a dry atmos- 

 I)here becomes cool quickly in the absence of 

 the sun. Is it not plain, then, that the loose 

 worked soil, lying under a damp atmosphere, 

 will become heated to a greater depth during 

 a long warm season than it will when equally 

 loose under a dry atmosphere ? and that it 

 will indeed assume much nearer the tempera- 

 ture of the atmosphere itself ? Experience 

 proves this to be true. The loose soil in New 

 York, for instance, at a depth of six inches 

 in the month of August indicates the same, 

 or nearly the same temperature as the atmos- 

 phere above it, while equally loose soil in 

 California shows three or four degrees lower 

 temperature than the atmosphere above it. 

 Now to this fact apply the well-known atmos- 

 pheric phenomena of condensation of mois- 

 ture on a cool surface. Ice-water in an 

 earthen pitcher, on a warm day, even in our 

 dry climate, very quickly causes water to ac- 

 cumulate on the outside of the pitcher from 

 the surrounding atmosphere. So a cool soil, 

 in our hottest days, is constantly condensing 

 and absorbing the moisture from our dry at- 

 mosphere, and with this moisture feeding the 

 roots of plants. Hence, if the soil be loose 

 deep down — and the deeper the better, be- 

 cause the greater the difference in tempera- 

 ture between its lower particlss and the at- 

 mosphere, every particle of that soil presents 

 to the atmosphere a condensing surface, and, 

 like the pitcher, draws from it its moisture. 

 But in the Atlantic States, or any other coun- 

 try where the temperature of the soil becomes 

 equal to that of the atmosphere, there can be 

 no condensation of the soil, and consequently 

 the soil can obtain no moisture from the at- 

 mosphere, except the condensation takes 

 place in the atmosphere itself, and falls upon 

 the soil in the form of rain. Hence, the ab- 

 sence of rain for a few weeks brings destruc- 

 tive drought, though the atmosphere may bo 

 BO moist as to bo absolutely oppressive and 

 scalding to the touch. A great many farnnu-s 

 hold to the theory that the moisture in a loose 

 soil comes from below by cvaporaticm. Hence 

 they stir the surface frequently, as they say, 

 to let the moisture come up. This theory 



incorrect. If it were true that the moisture I 

 comes from below, then the harder and more 

 compact the surface the more moisture would 

 be kejit in the gi-ound, for the very plain rea- 

 son that it could not escape througli a com- 

 pact and tight surface as readily as through 

 an open one. The truth is that a compact 

 surface on the soil permits evaporation, but 

 does not present the cool surface to induce 

 condensation as does a loose soil. The at- 

 mosphere penetrates a loose soil as deep 

 down as it is loose, and the cool surface it 

 there meets robs it of its moisture, while it 

 cannot penetrate a loose soil to be robbed. A 

 few familiar facts, perhaps, will illustrate the 

 point better than pages of reasoning. Many 

 of our farmers have dug wells in this country 

 iu the di-y summer months, and have thrown 

 out piles of dry soil, and have been surprised 

 to find, in the course of a day or two, that 

 the dry soil so thrown out had become quite 

 moist; even more moist than the natural sur- 

 face upon which it was thrown. How came 

 this about ? Was it by evaporation from the 

 natural surface below up through the new 

 soil thrown out ? This could not be ; for if 

 you dig down ten inches iu the newly exca- 

 vated soil it is as dry as when first thrown 

 out, while perhaps four inches down it is 

 damp enough to germinate seed, and fre- 

 quently does it when seed will not germinate 

 on the natural surface. The fact is, the soil 

 thrown out of the well is cold, and condenses 

 the moisture from the atmosphere." 



How it is possible for any one to steer so 

 wide from the mark, or to make such false 

 deductions as are indicated in the above ex- 

 tract is wonderful at least. The idea ad- 

 vanced of condensation of moisture from our 

 dry atmosphere by a loose soil is almost too 

 prej^osterous to allow of a moment's consid- 

 eration. This condensation theory, as ap- 

 plied to the soil, is, on general principles, 

 one of the biggest humbugs ever preached; 

 and he who expects to raise a crop from land 

 that depends, for water, upon condensation of 

 moisture from the air will carry his crops 

 away in the corner of his eye, and particu- 

 larly in a di-y climate like ours. Why, the 

 dew point, as indicated by the wet bulb of the 

 thermometer, ranges, in dry weather, from 

 twelve to forty degrees below the temperature 

 of the atmosphere in the shade; and the sur- 

 face soil, exposed to the rays of the sun, gets 

 heated Up, and remains so all through our dry 

 season, several degrees higher than the dew 

 point. Hence, the impossibility of such con- 

 densation. The dryer the air the greater the 

 difference between the dew or condensing point 

 and the temperatitre of the air; and before 

 condensation of moisture can result, the tem- 

 perature of the soil must be really below the 

 dew point several degrees. The idea of our 

 dry soils, lying under the summer suns of our 

 cloudless climate, condensing moisture from 

 the drjang air, reminds us of the saying, 

 "drawing blood from a turnip." The evapo- 

 ration of all free moisture from the soil into 

 the atmosphere is the natural and inevitable 

 result of contact of the air with the soil, su- 

 perstitious theories to the contrary or not. 

 And whether the soil is solid or loose, the 

 process of absorbing moisture from the soil 

 goes on just as fast as the conditions will ad- 

 mit. The true policy of cultivation for re- 

 taining moisture is to leave the surface soil in 

 the best condition to resist the drying action 

 of sun and atmosphere. This is found, by ex. 

 perience, to be a mulching of loose material, 

 such 08 straw, leaves, manure, dry earth, etc. 



If the soil is compact to the very surface, th 

 moisture as it rises from below, by the laws 

 of capillary attraction and equal distribution, 

 is at once licked up by the drying air that 

 comes in contact with the compact surface. 

 Every farmer has noticed how soon such soil 

 will dry off and crack in a dry, windy day. 

 A mulching over such soil would act as a non- 

 conductor of air and moisture and of heat 

 and cold, as our clothes, when made of soft 

 material, do to protect our bodies. A rapid 

 evaporation of moisture from any surface 

 lowers the temperature of that surface. A 

 condensation of moisture, on the contrary, 

 raises the temperature of the surface. 



In the Atlantic States in early Summer, 

 when the days are very hot and the air is sur- 

 charged with moisture — the dew point being 

 very high — and the soil is cold from the 

 melted snows and frost of winter, there is 

 more or less condensation of moisture from 

 the air by the soil, which at once tends to cool 

 off the air and warm up the soil. But after 

 the soil once becomes heatea in July and Au- 

 gust, such condensation ceases, even in that 

 moist climate. A mulching to retain the 

 moisture in the soil is as necessary there in 

 midsummer as in California. Moisture does 

 not come from below by "evaporation," as the 

 Record- Union espreses it, but by capillary at- 

 traction; and instead of the farmer "stirring 

 the soil to let the moisture come np," it 

 comes up itself without stirring, and the far- 

 mer stirs the surface to keep the moisture 

 from exi^osure to the air and sun, and to keep 

 it from escaping readily into the air by evap- 

 oration. A stirring of the surface soil makes 

 it loose and dry, but this loose, dry earth acts 

 as a blanket to cover the moist soil beneath 

 and keep it from drying out. 



Our best orchardists and gardeners find 

 that a light surface cultivation of not over 

 two inches deep, is the best sort of tillage 

 that they can give to retain moisture and se- 

 cure the best growth. What our cotemporary 

 says about earth from wells condensing mois- 

 ture from the air must be a fabrication of the 

 imagination and simply merits a denial. 



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MORE FACTS AND FIGURES ABOUT 

 THE ANGORA GOAT. 



^TUSTER and length of staple are the two 

 >j|.t qualities which are required in mohair. 

 nr Mr. Farr, manager of the Holyoke, 

 ^^ Mass., Alpaca company, asserts this — 

 It is the luster which gives this hair its chief 

 value. Goods made from it must look bright 

 and glossy to be valuable. And it must have 

 length to be worked advantageously. The 

 same gentleman asserts that hair ten inches 

 long is worth, per pound, more than twieo 

 as much as hair five inches. Ho also asserts 

 that the principal drawback to the California 

 staple is the shortness. The luster is equal 

 to that of the best Turkish mohair. He con- 

 cludes : 



If California farmers can grow the stock to 

 average eight or ten inches long, the success 

 of it as a valuable commodity is certain. We 



.-B.O- 



