How ROTATIONS HELP OUT 25 



before it can secure entrance through the stubborn 

 top. 



Here is the better plan: Just wait until the soil 

 is slightly dried; enough so that when it is stirred 

 it will not settle and connect with the capillary- 

 tubes below, thus defeating the very object you 

 set about to secure. In times when you are de- 

 pending upon cultivation for water preservation it 

 will be worth your while to watch the mulch, to 

 see if it is still an effective blanket or if the con- 

 nection with the capillary tubes below is beginning 

 to take place. If the latter be so, it is high time 

 that you repeat the cultivating work. 



Water Saving Means Early Work. — Water sav- 

 ing falls into two means — ^the catching and holding 

 of it. You first must get water into the soil, and 

 then you can use it; provided, of course, you do 

 not let it escape before it is needed. Too many 

 tillers of the soil fail to understand that the most 

 important principle at stake in water saving is to 

 till and cultivate in such a manner that there is free 

 access of water into the soil. Then it can be pre- 

 served by cultivation and mulches throughout the 

 season. But failures in supplying water, although 

 effective culture — mulch making — is given during 

 the growing season, are certain to happen if no 

 water is in the soil to be conserved. If you would 

 have water for plants for the time when they shall 

 need it, if you would have soil water for them for 

 later use, make no mistake about first getting it into 

 the soil, and the rest of the work will be easy. 



Points to Keep in Mind. — i. Getting ready for 

 crops — opening soils and catching water — is of more 

 importance than after cultivation. 



2. Get water deep into the soil and you will 

 have bigger stores of supply. 



