1850 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF I'KACTKAL HOUTICULTURE 



HisrlH'st (oiicoiitriition of Alkali Hiiriii- 



lf>s t(i Viirii)\is Fdrms of Vriro- 



tiitioii 



The foUowiug table, prepared liy Pro- 

 fessor Hilgard, gives a fair idea of tlae 

 relative resistances of various crops. Tlie 

 information was gathered under certain 

 conditions. Init experience shows the rela- 

 tions are generally true. One or two ex- 

 ceptions have been noted in several West- 

 erns states, viz., corn, which appears at 

 the end of Professor Hilgard's list, has 

 shown itself to be more resistant than al- 

 falfa and the grains, and grapes have 

 withstood conditions that drove alfalfa 

 and sugar beets from the field. 



(Pounds of sodium i)er acre in four foot 



depth.) 



Sodium SiiiiUim Sodliiin 



Forms of Total Sul- Clilor- Car- 



Vesetation Alkali pliatc Ide bmiate 



Salt Ki-ass i:(C,.(ioii ]4.:20(l 27,700 5!l.-Jijn 



Salt bush .-iti.ool) 40.700 40.:iOO S.KiO 



Alfalfa, old.. 3'.»,40O JiH.iOO l.OJii 



.Mfalfa. vouns 4.(i!HI H.OOO 1.020 



S.irt'lium " . . . . 2i),100 L>o.on() H.Hlo 4.110 



Hadlsh 22..".00 1G.800 880 :i,7.80 



Supir beet... 21.400 17.000 4.030 1.740 



Sunflower ... 21.400 17.000 2.140 700 



Grapes 1(;.:!00 i:i.200 3,700 3.280 



Onions 13.700 2.290 



Potatoes 13.700 2,290 



faiTots 10.2011 8.0.10 930 .-.40 



l-i(,-s 9.430 7.920 320 48(i 



Almimds .... 9.130 7.3."iO 940 030 



liarlev 9,120 3.890 2.000 .".280 



I'cars 7,480 5.70O ,-)40 7(!0 



Wheat 0.170 4.900 4."i(i 640 



.Apples .1. 700 4.010 488 278 



r-elerv 4,890 1,320 3.780 



Kve ■ 4.400 3.170 680 417 



I'hinps 4.2C0 2.990 472 .-)90 



Pearhes 4.0.30 3.110 393 29.-. 



Aprlrots 3,600 2.800 378 208 



Sweet corn 780 



By reference to the above table it is seen 

 that in some instances the amount of 

 total salts which a plant will withstand is 

 greater than the sum of the three compo- 

 nent quantities. The reason for this is 

 that the salts operate against one another 

 and neutralize the respective actions. 

 R. A. Haht. 

 United States DrainaRO Enplnper. 



TRUCK A\D FRIIT SOILS 

 Early Trnck niid Potato Soils 

 To grow market-garden crops in a sat- 

 isfactory manner and to get them In the 

 market early enough to warrant a good 

 price, one needs a notably warm soil. The 

 better types of this class of soil usually 

 contain relatively large amounts of sand 

 and small amounts of clay. Snyder, 



whose discussion of this matter is being 

 followed in this particular portion of this 

 article, suggests that the better types of 

 early truck and potato soils are apt to 

 contain about 60 per cent of medium sand, 

 from 20 to 25 per cent of silt, perhaps 

 about .'> per cent of clay, and that, when 

 carrying S per cent of silt, they hold from 

 r-i to 12 per cent of water. He i)oints out 

 that when these crops arc grown on soils 

 containing much more water than this, 

 they are apt to be slow in maturing. 

 When used for the production of early 

 market-garden crops, and as one gets fur- 

 ther north, the proportion of sand may 

 relatively increase, and of silt decrease. 

 Soils like this are not ai)t to be naturally 

 as rich in plant food as are some of the 

 other types, but are of a nature to make 

 admirable use of large quantities of added 

 plant food. 



fieiu-ral Truck and Fruit Soils 



Where extreme earliness is not a fac- 

 tor, and where water constitutes a large 

 percentage of the market crop, as in mar- 

 ket-garden crops and fruit, more of clay, 

 rather less of sand and, consequently, a 

 greater water-holding capacity are to be 

 desired than when early truck is grown. 

 From 10 to 15 per cent of clay, 50 per 

 cent of sand, and 10 to 18 per cent of 

 water are preferred. Great divergence 

 of practice is observed, particularly in the 

 growth of fruit. Some fruits succeed ad- 

 mirably on soils with a large percentage 

 of clay; others on soils such as those now 

 under consideration. 



EFFECT OF Ml'LCHES OF DIFFERENT 



DEPTH I> COXSEKVIX; SOIL 



MOISTl HE 



The purpose of the soil mulch is to 

 break, as completely as possible, the cap- 

 illary connection by means of which the 

 soil moisture moves ujjward, and to pro- 

 tect the moist soil below from the rapid 

 evai)orating effect of moving air. No 

 mulch can accomplish these results per- 

 fectly and prevent all loss by evaporation. 

 Since the mulch, being dry soil, in which 

 plant roots cannot grow, is just that much 

 lost soil so far as furnishing i)lant food is 

 concerned, it ought not to be any deeper 

 than is necessary to conserve the largest 



