VERTICAL FARMING 



55 



Courtesy Prof. Ten Eyck, Kas. P..vpt. Sta. 



DEEP ROOTING OF CORN AND ALFALFA 



zone than is- ordinarily given them. The feeding zone has been 

 shallow and meager, largely because the farmer could formerly 

 find no suitable means for the deep cultivation. No practical 

 machinery can till the soil as deep as 2 feet, and even that limit 

 is not sufficient for the needs of crops. Such deep cultivation 

 is possible only with high explosives. 



The benefits of deep rooting of a crop do not pass away when 

 the crop is harvested, for the roots are left down where they 

 grew, and on decaying form humus at a depth where it would 

 be impossible to place it by artificial means, down where it 

 will help to perpetuate the granulated condition of the subsoil, 

 and keep alive the deep feeding and working bacteria, helping 

 the farmer to gain thereby the full return from all of his field 

 rather than from the top only. 



