What tO Do in a Drought — By Leslie Hudson, 



MAKING THE BEST OF THINGS — HOW MOISTURE IS PRESERVED BY 

 MULCHING AND WHAT TO DO TO IMPROVE THE SOIL CONDITIONS 



New 



York 



\ 'X 7HEN there is a spell of long continued 

 » * hot weather without rain the most 

 natural remedy, it would seem, is to give 

 plenty of water. In gardens this is usually 

 prefectly practicable, and in highly cultivated 

 areas is the most reasonable means of master- 

 ing the situation. But on an area of any 

 large size the problem of watering becomes 

 an extremely difficult one. Even though 

 the water supply be abundant, the question 

 of labor has to be considered. 



The real answer to the question depends 

 on the circumstances in any particular place. 

 Some plants — vegetable crops, in particular 

 — simply must have water at any cost, 

 because succulence and tenderness are 

 prime factors in their quality. Indeed, it 

 is often far better to harvest crops of tender 

 vegetables at a younger stage -than usual 

 than it is to let them mature under trying 

 conditions of drought, when size is gained 

 only at a sacrifice of tenderness.',^ As a mat- 

 ter of fact, it would be well if we" would all 

 learn to gather our vegetable crops in a 

 younger state than we usually do. 



Crops that must be carried over to a later 

 season, it planted in reasonably good soil 

 prepared with ordinary cultural skill, may 

 usually be depended upon to come through 

 a drought without any very special attention. 

 If such crops are watered — and there is a 

 natural inclination to give them extra water 

 when the other crops are being treated — 

 they should be carefully cultivated as soon 

 as possible afterward. Cultivation, or stir- 

 ring the surface soil and keeping a loose 

 mulch, counts for much more than actually 

 adding water in a great majority of cases. 

 All this is not hearsay, but the result 

 of experience, backed up by actual 

 investigations. 



It has been found that a well tilled orchard 

 soil, for instance, contained, at a depth of 

 one foot from the surface, on the first of 

 September, about 12 

 per cent, of water, 

 which was about 50 

 per cent, more than 

 was found in a simi- 

 lar depth of unfilled 

 soil nearby. 



But cultivation 

 can be excessive and 

 wasteful, not of moist- 

 ure, but of the plants' 

 vitality through in- 

 jury to the roots. The 

 ideal cultivation of 

 the soil is one that 

 completely stirs the 

 surface to the smallest 

 possible depth. The 

 stirred soil becomes 

 dryer than that which 

 is below it, and it 

 acts in preserving the 



moisture below in a purely mechanical way 

 by breaking the continuity of the moisture 

 column. 



Everybody can see that moisture is evapo- 

 rated from the surface of the ground during 

 hot, dry weather, and where the soil of the 

 garden is of one texture, there is a gradual 

 flow of water from below, always tending to 

 repair the loss of moisture from the surface. 

 Cultivation, or the stirring of a small layer 

 of soil on the top, breaks this continuous 

 moisture column, and acts exactly in the 

 same way as a mulch of light straw, litter, 

 or other matter in retaining moisture. 



Go out into the garden and remove a 

 mulch from any shrub that was set out in 

 the spring, and notice the surface of the 

 earth below. It is more moist than the ex- 

 posed part. Leave it uncovered for a few 

 hours and see the difference ! 



It has been said that weeds are in reality 

 a great blessing to the gardener because 

 they compel him to cultivate. It is perfectly 

 obvious to anyone that a well-kept garden is 

 constantly stirred about the surface by the 

 hoe in cutting out weeds. 



With shallow-rooted plants mulching by 

 the addition of light litter is probably a better 

 practice than cultivation, unless the latter 

 is done with extreme care. Many a gardener 

 knows that corn, uncultivated, will grow as 

 well if not better than the same thing heavily 

 cultivated. But it is merely a question of 

 degree ; and cultivation of any kind should be 

 done with the lightest kind of tool to a depth 

 of not more than half an inch, if possible. 



WHEN TO STOP CULTIVATING 



Although cultivation is a good thing it can 

 be carried too far and too late in the season, 

 especially in the case of trees and shrubs. 

 The stimulating effect of late cultivation is 

 such that growth may be continued far too 

 late in the season — so late, in fact, that the 



wood does not have time to ripen up in the 

 fall and with the arrival of winter is tender 

 and easily injured by frost. 



The end of July or the beginning of 

 August is the time when such cultivation 

 should stop. During this month is the time 

 to sow cover crops of leguminous plants 

 for turning under in the form of green manure 

 the following spring. This adds humus 

 to the soil, and under certain conditions will 

 also increase the supply of nitrogen. But 

 the most important thing is the humus. 

 That helps the physical condition of the 

 soil, aiding it to retain a greater quantity 

 of moisture in the future. 



As a cover crop on light soils sow rye. 

 Other suitable plants are red clover, crimson 

 clover, vetch, alfalfa and cow peas. 



It is good practice to sow one or other of 

 these crops in orchards in order to make 

 up for what the crop is continually taking 

 out of the soil, and this month is the time to 

 begin. Chemical fertilizers will often give 

 immediate response, but by their continued 

 application the soil becomes unbalanced 

 and the necessity of supplying humus is 

 greater than ever. No harm is likely to 

 come from the turning under of a green crop, 

 and even on the wetter soils, where souring 

 might be suspected, a light dressing of lime, 

 broadcast and plowed under in the first 

 cultivation, will be sufficient to counteract 

 any such tendency. 



If you have a young orchard in which 

 catch crops are being taken while the trees 

 are becoming established, do not plow in 

 the fall. Better leave it to the spring. If 

 your ground is badly drained and suffering 

 from an excessive moisture, the growing of 

 some crop such as rye may solve the entire 

 problem of checking the too succulent growth 

 of the plants and throwing them into bearing 

 condition. 



This month gives 



Keeping the surface soil lightly but constantly stirred is often worth more than watering. "Weeding 

 helps in this. The wheel hoe does both operations better than the hand hoe. Pulling weeds by hand 

 should only be done around seedlings and in the rows 



24 



a good opportunity 

 for you to find out 

 whether you have a 

 water supply system 

 which is really con- 

 venient. If not, make 

 your plans now for 

 rearrangement or a 

 laying of new pipes 

 where they will do 

 the most good. The 

 cheapest way is to 

 have pipes all on the 

 surface with two or 

 three standpipes, and 

 the whole system ar- 

 ranged so that the 

 water may be shut off 

 and thepipes drained 

 dry when winter 

 comes. The iron pipe 

 may be laid along the 

 edges of the walks. 



