WHEAT CULTURE. 



! 



between the surface soil and that beneath, thus strengthening the capillarity 

 and increasing the flow of water upward to the surface, where it can he 

 lost by evaporation. 



Even if the ploughed surface has become somewhat settled, and therefore 

 less effective as a mulch, little will be gained by working it in the wint< r. 

 At that season, when the days are cool and often cloudy and the amounl oJ 

 evaporation, even from damp soil, LS not gTeat, it would require almost con- 

 tinual stirring of the soil to maintain an effective mulch; for, owing to the 

 condition-, prevailing, the connection between the surface soil and thai be- 

 neath would he re-established almost as fasl as broken. 



Later, after dry weather sets in, the amount of working the fallowed land 

 will require will depend upon the climate and the condition of the soil. 

 Professor King found, as a result of experiment, that in -even weeks the 

 loss of moisture from unmulched ground was equivalent to 170 points of 



A Modern Disc Plough. 



rain more than from mulched land. But if this moisture is to be conserved, 

 the soil must be stirred as soon as the effectiveness of the mulch is destroyed 

 by rain ; mulches are only effective when loose and dry. 



Even a light shower is sufficient, under some conditions, to render a mulch 

 non-effective; and when this is the case the soil is often drier twenty-four 

 hours after the shower than if no rain had fallen. This is due to the 

 increased capillarity of the particles, caused by the wetting and consequent 

 compacting of the soil, resulting in loss of subsoil moisture by evaporation. 

 This is illustrated by the results of another experiment conducted by Professor 

 King, wdio found that 25 points of rain in twenty-four hours was sufficient 

 to cause an increased flow of water (equal to 70 points of rain) from the 

 subsoil to the surface, where it could be lost by evaporation. 



The cultivation of the fallow must necessarily fit in with other operations 

 on the farm. A December cultivation, for instance, may be extremely desir- 

 able but is seldom practicable, the men and horses being busily engaged with 

 the harvest. It may be considered desirable ( subject to the conditions already 

 outlined as to the state of the soil) to give a cultivation before hay cutting 

 begins, and a second one after the harvest is over and rain has fallen. 



