THE CALL OF THE LAND 



The answer is, in brief : Kill capillarity at 

 the surface by keeping the top soil continu- 

 ally in the form of a mulch. 



Hold the extreme edge of a sugar lump 

 in water and see the moisture walk up 

 through the lump as if gravity did not exist. 

 The force called capillarity is acting, the 

 same that lifts oil up a wick, the same that 

 raises bottom water in a sandbank so that it 

 is always moist to within a few inches of 

 the top. 



Permit the surface soil to become hard 

 and capillarity plays right into the hands of 

 sun and wind, emptying the earth of its 

 moisture at a fearful rate. Annul capillary 

 action at the top and you keep the water 

 jugged. Annul it at the top, observe. Lower 

 down you do not want to interfere with it 

 even if you could. You wish to promote it 

 in every way, that the far-down moisture 

 may, as wanted, come up and bathe the seeds 

 you plant and the rootlets and roots they put 

 forth. Free capillarity below is a necessity. 

 That is largely what we plow for. But cap- 



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