418 DRY LAND FARMING 



the labor involved in plowing it. When the soil gets 

 thus impacted successful growth therefrom is simply 

 impossible. 



Organic matter judiciously applied to the soil adds 

 greatly to its moisture-holding power. It is applied 

 judiciously when it is added in quantities that will not, 

 because of their excess, keep them lying too loose and 

 open, and when it is buried in a condition that will facil- 

 itate quick decay as far as this may be possible. When 

 excessive in quantity, impaction is so little present, that 

 the air removes too much moisture from the soil. It 

 does not lie sufficiently close to the seeds when they 

 are planted to promote vigorous germination, and the 

 roots of the plants cannot feed properly because of lack 

 of moisture. It is easily possible in a dry season to pro- 

 duce failure in a crop that would otherwise prove suc- 

 cessful through the injudicious application of organic 

 matter. This means that when manures are buried in 

 the soil they should be applied only in moderate quan- 

 tity at one time, and that when a green crop is buried 

 it should be so buried before it reaches too advanced a 

 stage of maturity, otherwise it will decay too slowly. 



Organic matter in its decay adds much to the mois- 

 ture-holding power in the soil. It does so by absorbing 

 water that is going downward in the soil and holding it 

 much as it is taken up and held by a sponge. Of course 

 it will not hold it for an indefinite period in the absence 

 of rain, but it will in very many instances hold it suffi- 

 ciently long to enable it to be taken up by the roots of 

 plants which penetrate the soil much more readily be- 

 cause of the presence of organic matter. It has been 

 claimed that in dry areas the presence of a sufficient 

 supply of organic matter in the soil in a suitable stage 

 of decay will increase its moisture-holding power by 

 fully 50 per cent. 



