TO MEET A DROUGHT.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1023, 12 January 1911, Page 8

TO MEET A DROUGHT.

KEEP THE TOP SOIL STIRRED,

New Zealand farmers so; often get'"hit . .by a dry season that it is well that they' 6nould near something or wlint scientists are'- doing- lor croppers in,.tho way oi' experimenting witli iiic object of helping , the soil to retain its moisture. ' \ ' An advocate of keeping the top sou : stirred is Professor Aorns, of Rockforu, 111,, U.S.A., who illustrates the action oi •Naturo in such a case.as follows:— "It is better for' a. deep-rooted 'plant ♦to hoe the soil than it is .to water the surface. A lamp wick draws oil. against the, force cf gravity/. A biotting paper absorbs ink. A Itiuip of loaf-sugar becomes black if dropped into. a 'saucer of ink. But cut the wick in two pieces, and hold them together .and you etop the upward rise of the • oil. ■ Place •a little .pulverised sugar-.on- top of • your lump and .note tho long time it .takes tho ink-to-pass through it. Placo' a clod of dirt in water'and note the;short time' .required to wet it. Put in - an, inch of. • dry • dirt and observe. The* name burns | off the. oil and the air takes up the 1 water coming through the soil, or, as we i say, it evaporates. • • ' -•'•••• "In fact more evaporates than what tlie I plants get. If the supply : of sub-water |was unlimited, wecouid affofrd this. loss. ; But; such is not th 6 case in a. long dry i spell. The water. comes up through•the i pores .in * the soil and evaporates and I soon - the supply is exhausted,. •If we 'cover the surface with a dry mulch then •capillary,-tubes are clogged, t'lio .upwardris6 is' checked,, and the. under soil .mains moist. .Of course the - tubes form again in'a day or two so that we'.must continually break'them up with hoe or •cultivator. •••'*,/' • - ."Thus you can' readily see that going over a.garden 'with. a. sprinkling can is just tlie- thing to . form the tubes again -arid thus lose barrels of water;from the 6ubrSoil for every 'gallon put upon the surface." ' . Professor Norris gives the following experiment to prove his' theory correct: "Into two one-pound baking powder cans - .place mud made of clay, or loam ..until • they are within one inch of the. top. •Get them both to weigh tlie same, record the weight. Very soon a crust will form oyer the top. of the mud. '.With a small kiiife stir up one can to the depth of an inch as:, soon as it is drv enough. _Do not touch the crust of tho' other. Put tliem both in one-place and stir the. one every day,'after lV you have- weighed them. 'T6 make the experiment more . valuable, "fiSveral sets should be taken using clay, $and, sawdust, gravel and road dust. The unstirred. cans, he says, will soon weigh-the least, slewing the loss of moisture. ' "