Campbell's 1902 Soil Culture Manual. 



39 



on three important points, that the ground must be in proper condition 

 when all his work is done on the soil, that he must have a good seed or 

 root bed, made fine and firm, and abundance of moisture stored below. 



Summer culture previous to seeding- to alfalfa will assure a positive 

 and even catch and a fair crop the first season. 



Summer culture for the storing of the rainwaters in the soil, although 

 comparatively new as above outlined, is a most important adjunct in farm- 

 ing in the west. 



Begin your summer culture as early in the spring as the conditions will 

 let you on the ground with your disc harrow. Don't let the weeds grow, 

 thinking they are valuable as a fertilizer to turn under. The moisture 

 they take from the ground is worth far more to you in growing the next 

 crop. 



Raising a crop in a dry season is like doing a credit business in hard 

 times. If the business man's bank account is large enough to pull through, 

 he is the one who makes the money; so, too, with the farmer, if he has 

 moisture enough stored below to carry him through a dry season, he is the 

 one who makes the money. 



If the farmer wants to raise the largest yield of corn or potatoes he 

 ever had, try a piece of ground summer tilled. This summer culture, or 

 the cultivation of a field one entire season, conserving the water and keep- 

 ing the weeds out means a surer crop and a bigger crop. Do not give over 

 a piece of land to an entire season of cultivation without cropping just to 

 give the land a rest, but rather to store the water and improve its general 

 physical condition. 



PERCOLATION. 



OR GETTING WATER DOWN INTO THE SOIL. 



There is probably no one question so little understood by the average 

 farmer and yet so important as the movement of moisture in the soil. The 

 problem of getting the water down into the soil is one of equal importance 

 to that of conserving the moisture, which is now quite commonly under- 

 stood, and accomplished by the use of the soil mulch or surface cultiva- 

 tion. In cut No. 8 we have attempted to illustrate the percolation of water, 

 or the getting of water down into the soil. We have divided this cut into 

 three sections, numbering them 1, 2, and 3 from left to right, then divided 

 these sections into lateral strata A, B, C, and D. In section No. 1, A 

 represents the soil mulch, a stratum of light, loose, and dry soil; B repre- 



