Successful farming : a ready reference on all phases of agriculture for farmers of the United States and Canada . beneath. The efficiency of such mulches depends largely on the perfec-tion with which they are made. A surface mulch to be effective shouldconsist of rather finely pulverized loose soil. This becomes dry to suchan extent that the soil moisture film is discontinuous and water ceases torise to the immediate surface. In this condition, any loss that takes place 136 SUCCESSFUL FARMING must result from the escape of water within the soil pores. A little losswill take place in this way.
Successful farming : a ready reference on all phases of agriculture for farmers of the United States and Canada . beneath. The efficiency of such mulches depends largely on the perfec-tion with which they are made. A surface mulch to be effective shouldconsist of rather finely pulverized loose soil. This becomes dry to suchan extent that the soil moisture film is discontinuous and water ceases torise to the immediate surface. In this condition, any loss that takes place 136 SUCCESSFUL FARMING must result from the escape of water within the soil pores. A little losswill take place in this way. Such mulches must be renewed at intervalsmore or less frequent, depending on the rainfall and the rapidity withwhich the surface soil may become compacted. In the absence of rains,a well-established mulch will last for a long time. On the other hand,a comparatively light rain will spoil the mulch and establish capillaryconnection with the soil below. Mulches of straw, manure and other organic materials are some-. Orchard Well Cultivated to Prevent times used. These are very effective, but are often expensive. Suchmulches are most common in orchards in case of small fruits, straw-berries, and sometimes for potatoes and tomatoes. Where green manuring crops which are to be followed promptlywith money crops are used, it is well to take the precaution to plow theseunder before they have thoroughly exhausted the moisture supply of thesoil. Precaution should also be taken in plowing under green manurecrops and barnyard manure to avoid possibility of cutting off the capil-lary connection between the plowed and unplowed portion of the soil. i Courtesy of The Macmillan Company, N. Y. From Principles of Irrigation Practice, by Widtsoe. SOIL WATER 137 Removing Excess of Water.—Excess of soil water pertains only tothat above described as gravitational water. This may be removed bydeep, open drains and by underdrains. Methods of drainage will be dis-cussed in another topic. O
Size: 1816px × 1377px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectagriculture, bookyear
