EXPERIENCED FARMER

Southland Times, Issue 23141, 6 March 1937, Page 15

EXPERIENCED FARMER

When a man judges a crop of wheat or clover, whether he be an experienced farmer or a casual observer, he takes no cognisance of that crop’s root development. Yet a plant is more dependent upon its roots than a horse upon its feet, because roots are to a plant both its feet and its stomach. But it is easy to see why the average appraisal of a crop does not take into any conscious, consideration the state of the roots. Roots are hidden, and the old saying, “Out of sight out of mind,” contains a great deal of truth. Moreover, by the time that many crops are ripe for the gathering, the roots have done their work and are beginning to fade away. It is only in such crops as turnips and mangels that direct attention is fastened on the root Even then importance is attached not to the root, which does the work, but to that part of the root which demonstrates what the working part has accomplished. We know, however, certain things about roots which should assist us as farmers to get better and healthier crops. We know, for instance, that roots must breathe, like animals, and like other parts of the plant. If the supply of oxygen is cut oft, then the roots die. The amount of oxygen which is necessary is comparatively small, and if not forthcoming growth ceases. This has been demonstrated experimentally in the laboratory, and it explains one or two problems in practical farming. A water-logged soil is of low fertility largely because of the scarcity of oxygen within it. In a normal soil the spaces between the soil particles are occupied by air, of which one-fifth is free oxygen. When the water table rises, the air gets expelled and water takes its place.

This is quite true, but stagnant water does not usually have much oxygen in it; also aquatic plants are specially fashioned to make use of such dissolved gas, while the roots of land plants are not. There is only one way of overcoming the lack of oxygen in a waterlogged soil, and that is by draining it