AFTER CARE — FERTILIZERS 51 
consideration, it is seen that lack of moisture 
at the proper time is very detrimental to 
plant growth. 
What help can we expect from tillage to 
overcome these conditions? As to adding 
water to the soil by careful tillage, it has not 
been demonstrated that it is possible to do 
so. ‘Tillage’s main help is in retaining in the 
soil water which falls as rain, holding it 
there until the roots of the plant take it up. 
Tillage cannot in any way reduce the amount 
of water, which is lost by the process of tran- 
spiration through the plant. It cannot be 
expected that the largest crops will grow 
without water, or that tillage alone can take 
the place of water. With sufficient water 
in the soil, it is possible, by good tillage, 
to obtain the heaviest crops nevertheless. 
If there is a deficiency of rain, nothing 
short of irrigation will produce a large 
crop. 
It has been mentioned that the straw- 
berry is a very shallow feeder, and from this 
it is very easy to see that in droughty springs 
or summers, if the plants are not irrigated, 
the resultant crop will suffer greatly. This 
fact has been quite well brought out by ex- 
