52 



VERTICAL FARMING 



old log or plank that is lying on the ground and noticing the 

 large amount of water in the soil immediately underneath. 



The Feeding Zone of Roots. The root systems of plants 

 require as ample room in which to develop as does the stalk and 

 leaf system above. Roots must both anchor the plant in place 

 and reach down for food and water. The feeding zone of a 

 plant determines the amount and value of the top. The soil 

 must be cultivated in order to provide a proper feeding zone, 

 for the earth in its natural condition will not yield as abundantly 

 as well cultivated soil. Just below a good surface mulch in a 



well cultivated field we find 

 moist soil full of roots revel- 

 ling in an ideal feeding zone. 

 On an adjoining uncultivated 

 field one must dig down to find 

 moist soil, and discovers only 

 a few roots feeding in a mea- 

 ger compact feeding zone. 

 Rootlets are ever pushing into 

 fresh soil zones where more 

 water and food are to be 

 found, yet the feeding zone 

 in ordinary farming is con- 

 fined largely to the shallow 

 depths of the plowed furrow, 

 simply because it is the only 

 warm, mellow, well ventilated 

 soil within the reach of the 

 roots. When given a chance, 

 feeding roots advance rapidly 



to meet the capillary rise of soil moisture, and the energetic 

 way in which they go down and search in every direction for 

 food and water proves them to be highly organized parts of 

 the plant and possessed of instinct or something akin to intelli- 

 gence. Plants having large or active root systems, making 

 a rapid growth, remove more water and more plant food from 

 the soil in a given time than those with a small system or 



PECAN ROOTS FROM BLASTED 

 AND TIGHT SOIL 



