July, 1910.] 



51 



Scientific Agriculture. 



In all soils there is, between the parti- 

 cles of earth, a system of minute 

 channels, so small as to be quite invisible. 

 Water rapidly passes along these, and 

 the narrower they are the more rapid is 

 the passage. If a lump of earth is thrown 

 into shallow water it will quickly darken 

 all over, although the water only touches 

 its base. The water has passed along 

 the invisible channels. In hard land 

 the tubes are continuous right to the 

 surface, water is quickly given off to the 

 air and the surface becomes caked and 

 dry. But, if the tubes are broken, the 

 water cannot pass so easily and is 

 retained longer in the soil. The main 

 object in working the soil is to break the 

 tubes where the soil is in contact with 

 the air and thus prevent evaporation. 



A fine surface tilth retains both the 

 water rising from below and that soak- 

 ing in from the rain or from irrigation. 

 It acts like a sponge and readily absorbs 

 water, and so, on cool, clear nights it 

 absorbs the dew and renders it avail- 

 able for the plants during the day- 



In the black cotton soils around Guntur 

 it is the custom to keep wot king the 

 land throughout the Ions period when 

 there is no rain. By this means excellent 

 crops of maize, chillies, jonna, tobacco, 

 cotton and red-gram are raised. All 

 that is needed is a good start, frequently 

 only one shower after sowing, and for 

 four or five months these " payira " crops 

 are kept alive and well by merely hoeing 



the surface. This is perhaps an extreme 

 case, for very few soils have such an 

 absorbent power as the black cotton, 

 but the principle applies to all soils and 

 all crops. 



After every shower of rain, followed 

 by hot sun, the laud should be rapidly 

 worked over to prevent the water from 

 evaporating. After every irrigation the 

 surface must be prevented from caking. 

 When there is no rain or irrigation, the 

 laud should be kept in as fine a tilth as 

 possible, for by this means crops will 

 often be tided over a period of drought, 

 and they will certainly have a much 

 better chance of proper development. 



Another effect of after-cultivation is 

 seen in its action on "soil bacteria." 

 There are, we now know, minute 

 organisms in the soil which help to break 

 it down into food for the plant. These 

 cannot live without moisture and a cool 

 surface. Exposure to the full heat of 

 the sun is bad for them. It is important, 

 therefore, in hot, dry regions to keep the 

 erround covered as much as possible. 

 This is best done by growing crops, but 

 when this cannot be done a layer of loose 

 earth on the top will help by acting as a 

 blanket. It not only retains the moisture 

 needed for the growth of the bacteria, 

 but also keeps the ground cool enough 

 for them to thrive. 



Not without reason is the Tamil 

 proverb " ploughiug and leaving the 

 land dry is not wasted labour." 



AGRICULTURAL FINANCE AND CO-OPERATION. 



SMALL HOLDINGS IN SOUTH-WEST 

 LANCASHIRE.* 



By John O. Feet, B.Sc, 

 County Instructor in Agriculture 

 for Hereford. 



(Prom the Journal of the Board of 

 Agriculture, Vol. XV., No. 8.) 

 Lancashire is essentially a county of 

 small farms. In the south-western 

 portion of the county, particularly in 

 the district situated along the first 

 twenty miles of the route from Liver- 

 pool to Preston, small holdings are 

 e specially numerous. A large pro por- 



* Previous articles on Small Holdings have 

 appeared as follows :— The Creation of Small 

 Holdings under the Act of 1907, Mrs. Roland 

 Wilkins (L. Jebb), April, 1908; Small Holdings 

 in Hampshire, J. (J. Newsham, f.l.s,, May, 1908 ; 

 Small Holdings in Herefordshire J. O, Peet, 

 B,8(j„ August, 1908, 



tion of the holdings in this district are 

 under 50 acres, and few exceed or even 

 approach 100 acres iu extent. That the 

 division of the land into small farms is 

 of no recent date is evident from the 

 character and age of the houses and 

 buildings upon them. There is little 

 evidence of any great change in the size 

 of the holdings having taken place for 

 a long period, the most notable occur- 

 rence in this direction being the gradual 

 disappearance of the smallest class of 

 holdings in the districts most remote 

 from the towns. 



Soil. — The soil throughout the district 

 is derived from the rocks of the New 

 Red Sandstone series, and like most 

 soils of similar origin is naturally pro- 

 ductive. For the main part it is a free- 

 working loam, which readily responds 

 to liberal manuring and is well suited to 

 potato culture and market gardening. 



Two main types may be recognised 

 amongst the methods adopted in the 



