water than the yellow loam, In spite of this, however, one may 

 say that as a general rule a stiflfer soil retains useful moisture 

 better than a sand, and a soil full of vegetable matter better than 

 either. 



There is however such a very close relationship between the 

 luxuriance of a plant and the amount of useful moisture contained 

 in the soil, that no effort should be spared to retain it in the land 

 if an early spring growth is wished. The following examples, 

 taken from the same source as the last, illustrate very well this point. 



This being the case, how can we retain the precious water in the 

 soil so that when the plant begins to put forth its new spring growth, 

 and when the sap begins to rise again, there shall, after all the winter's 

 drought, remain sufficient moisture in the soil to give the greatest 

 luxuriance ? First and foremost among methods for conserving the 

 soil moisture is the autumn deep hoe. In ordinary land with a com- 

 pacted hard surface the evaporation is very great, and takes place 

 right from the underlying layers of the soil as well as the surface. 

 On the other hand, if there exists a layer of loose soil on the 

 surface, this gets dried itself, but then acts as a very effective cover- 

 ing protecting the lower layers from further evaporation. It is 

 analogous, to take an illustration, to the familiar fact that " while a 

 dry brick (corresponding to the hard surface soil without cultiva- 

 tion) will suck a wet sponge dry, a dry sponge (corresponding to 

 the loose surface soil) is unable to take any appreciable amount of 

 water from a wet brick." Determinations of moisture in the soil 

 after drought, underneath a cultivated and uncultivated surface, 

 show very strikingly the fact that the soil does actually remain 

 wetter under a cultivated and loose surface (Californian Report, 

 he. cit). 



