TKe Relation of Tillage to Soil Moisture 



PROPER and timely tillage is one 

 of the great secrets of success 

 in orcharding. Tillage improves 

 the texture of the soil; it brings the 

 plant foods of the soil into that 

 condition most easily absorbed and 

 r used by the plant ; it saves soil moisture ; 

 , it destroys many insect pests ; it bene- 

 i fits the soil in many ways. In this 

 ■; article we shall discuss one phase of the 

 W question only: The relation of tillage 

 i to soil moisture. 



' GRASS IX THE ORCHARD 



: In many parts of our country, orch- 



; ards in grass or weeds are very com- 



i| mon, so much so that one would judge 



acre of land by cultivation would be 

 equal to, at least, one-fourth of an inch 

 of rainfall, or about 7,000 gallons. These 

 investigations, and countless others 

 that could be cited, show that cultiva- 

 tion of the soil is productive of good 

 results, that tillage is most important 

 in the conservation of soil moisture. 



Cultivation, or stirring of the surface 

 soil, saves the moisture in the depths 

 below by producing a top layer of loose 

 soil and thereby preventing evaporation 

 of moisture from the surface. In 

 other words, it covers the soil with a 

 surface mulch of earth. It is a common 

 observatian that ground beneath a 



tillage alone depends largely upon 

 the quantity of water that has been stor- 

 ed in the soil by the snows and rains of 

 winter and spring. 



Tillage also increases the water-hold- 

 ing capacity of the soil. If the surtace 

 soil is light and loose, the rains that 

 fall during the summer months will 

 readily soak into it. But if the surface 

 is allowed to become hard and baked, 

 much of this rain is lost by surface 

 drainage. Seldom, however, sufficient 

 rain falls in summer to meet the demand 

 of orchard trees. Hence, the conserva- 

 tion of that which does fall is an import- 

 ant factor in orchard management. We 



Rye Cover Crop in Dwarf Pear Orchard 



A part of the fruit orchards of W. M, Orr & Son, Fruithind, Ontario, taken about five years ago. See illustration on next page. 



this method of treating the orchard the 

 correct one. In exceptional and isolated 

 cases, it may be advisable to have 

 the orchard in sod. Usually, however, 

 the fact is, as the writer once heard it 

 qilly put, grass in an orchard has the 



ime effect as a number of pumps in 

 ihe land, pumping the water out of it, 

 and robbing the sf)il of the moisture 

 needed bv the fruit trees. 



Investigations have proven that the 

 loss of moisture from a soil covered 

 with growing grass is nearly 214 times 

 greater than that lost from naked soil; 

 also, that evaporation from a soil that 

 is kept constantlv stirred by cultivation 

 i^ only four-fifths that from a hard 



iirface. Definite experiments under 

 natural field conditions have shown also 

 that water saved during a week on an 



light covering of straw, sawdust or 

 even boards, is always mf)ist even in 

 time of severe drought. This covering 

 has merely prevented the escape of the 

 moisture that was already in the soil. 

 A mulch of finely pulverized soil acts in 

 precisely the same manner. 



WATKR MORK IMPORTANT THAN FOOD 



Orchard trees suffer more from a lack 

 of moisture than they do from a lack 

 of plant food. This is particularly 

 true in seasons of long droughts. A 

 drought seems a great calamity but, 

 oftentimes, it is not quite so formidable 

 as one might suppose. In some of the 

 western parts of the Ignited States, 

 fruit trees are carried through a season 

 of no rains, lasting five months, merclv 

 bv thorough cultivation. The length 

 of the season that can be bridged by 



137 



should husband this rain by tillage and 

 gi\e our trees the moisture needed for 

 best results. 



Deep working of the land and fall 

 plowing also plav an important part 

 in controlling soil moisture. The for- 

 mer, by encouraging the roots to go 

 deep, rather than run along just below 

 the surface; and the latter, lay leaving 

 the surface of the soil uneven and 

 therebv permitting the soil to absorb 

 and retain large quantities of the winter 

 rain and snow. 



WHKX AND HOW TO CULTIVATr 



In the preceding remarks, the atten- 

 tion of the reader has been directed to 

 the principles of the operation. The de- 

 tail of the actual work rests with the grow- 

 er and his particular conditions. If he 

 has clearly in mind the objects to be 



