THE RURAL WORLD.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 451, 27 March 1912, Page 6

THE RURAL WORLD.

j SOIL TEXTURES. 'Generally speaking, the finer the : of a soil are the greater will .be the fertility; and the reason for ; tthis is the simple fact that where the soil is fine the roots of a plant •will 'come in contact with more of it than if the particles are larger. At the : same time, the finer a soil is, the j more does it need frequent cultiva- | tion.. in order to allow air to enter and to allow the roots to spread more j) readily. j Some soils we hear described as j porous; others are spoken of as dense. 1: The degree of porosity of a soil is dell pendent upon the sizes of the parf tides that go to make up that soil — j not on the sum of the spaces between i "die particles. For example, we learn j that clay iias a pore space of about 50 ' pe cent, (judging from the amount of water this kind of soil will hold), while a coarse sand may have: a pore space o£ only 25 per cent., yet sand ts more porous than clay, bscause it allows water to percolate through it more readily than does a clayey j soil, the individual spaces, between !; the particles being larger in the former than, in the case of the latter. Soil texture is another matter that calls for discussion. The texture of a soil is very closely connected with the proportion of "proximate constituents" (sand, clay, lime, humus, stones, etc.), present. For instance, an open texture in the soil is due to the presence of a large proportion of gravel or sand, while closeness of texture is due to a relatively large proportion of clay. An open soil does not, hold water well, and has little tenacity, but it is easy to cultivate; whiie. on the other hand, a close soil is difficult to till, is tenacious, and allows water to percolate very slowly. Soil that is composed of more than half clay will be very tough. In dry weather it will be liable to set hard and cra.ck, and when an attempt is made to till it, it will be cloddy and lumpy. Soil that has too great a proportion of clay should have lima added to it, which will make it crumbly and friable and so easier to cultivate. The texture of a soil may be greatly improved by dressings of farmyard manure (which, of course, also enrich the soil from a fertilising point of view. Whilst another good plan is to "green manure" —i.e., grow a forage crop like soy beans, cowpeas, rape, mustard, and so on. This mass of vegetable matter decomposes, becoming humus in time, and so doing much good. An Irish farmer from the country of Kildare claims a record in prolific calving. He has an Irish mull (hornless) cow, six years old, and has had six calves in little over 24 months, viz., twins, bulls, October 26th, 1909; twins, bull and heifer, November 15th, 1P10; twins, heifers, November 17th. 1911. A small plot of lucern well manured, will produce a succession of cutting for several years. A straw roof on the stable means cooler quarters, but when permanent stables are erected there is nothing so lasting as galvanised iron. j