THOROUGH TILTH. (Canterbury Times.)

Waikato Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1449, 15 October 1881, Page 4

THOROUGH TILTH. (Canterbury Times. )

L\sTWf>ekwe spoke of the necessity of pulveiising the toil in order to make the most of the elements of ieitility which it contains. Few soils are so lioh that a fanner can afford to leave any portion idle during the production of a (Dp. Manuring, subsoil draining 1 , and pulverisation are tho chief factoid in succo<sful agriculture, but while the two former are not always indispensable, — not practically within tho reach of farmers in a new countiy -— tho complete working of the soil is neatly always possible under any conditions of farming, and either on the giound of expediency or good management. Soil naturally fertile, may with tho aid of good season, yield a very fair return under the roughest treatment, but it is unwise to trust everything to the ■season when tho ri.sk may bo lessened by the judicious use of plough and harrows. Dining the process of germination the presence of air, moisture, aud certain degiees of warmth are all that is wanted, and for a time the constituents of the soil aiejnot called into use, but it merely acts as the agent by which the necessary supply of air, warmth and moisture is kept up. If the soil lies too open, and the air in consequence circulates freely, excessive dry ness may be the result, and one of the conditions nece--3aiy to successful germination is therefore absent, but if, on the other hand, the channels between the p.u tides of soil aie ovei-chaiged with moisture, the air is pirtially excluded, and there is also a coldness of the soil, so tli it the germination of the seeds is again pi f -vented. Soil when looked at mechanically is found to consist of paiticlcs of all snapos .in 1 sizes, and which cannot lie so close together as to picvenfc tlicie beiuif passages between them, to tint soil, however tenacious in its nature can never form quito a solid mass. And if we take ouo of the smallest individual pat tides and examine it mrcioscopicilly, it is found tli.it this is not always solid, but gonerally contains minute poie*, which seive a voiy important purpose in tho production ot plants The channels between the different p irticles of soil, and the minute poie-i in the paiticles themselves are of a widely different character, insomuch as in the larger spaces the water moves entuely dccouling to the law of giavitation, while in the minute, or capiliaiy pores of each particle tho moisture is absorbed and let.nned conti.iry to giavitation. This is why a gutty soil is geneially so diy,as in the case of shingle land. There is free communication between the particles, while in the particles themselves there .ire few capiliaiy pojes, bo that the rain watei uuis quickly through the soil, both on account of its openness and owing to its small poweia of capillary nttt action. When soil is in the most favourable condition foi the growth of plants the laiger spaces aie full of air, and the minute poies aie charged with moisture. If the soil contains moie water than what is retained by capillary attraction— that is to s.i} , if the 1 irgei spaces contain water instead of an, it may bo described a j bomg in a wet ns distinguished tiom a moist state, and the conditions aie unfavoiuable to plant life, for -which the only remedy is drainage. Ploughing and hair owing, anil even mamuing aie of little avail while the land contains stagnant moisture. Every drop of water which the soil contains beyond what is .ibsoibcd by the foice of capillary attraction is an c\il of the woist sort. A sodden soil is> even worse than one which allows the moisture to escape too lcndily. The most favouiablo condition of the soil is when the canals aie open and heoly supplied with air. while the pores .ue lillud with water. It is quite possible that the pores may be duly charged with inoistnie without tho presence of any stagnant water, w lnle at tiie same time the land is not in a fa\ouiablo state for tlie pioduction ot a ciop. Tins happens when the land has not been sufficiently woiUcil, and lies lumpy. A clod of e.uth difleis fioni a stone only to the extent that it contains a few pores, while a stone, roughly speaking, possesses none. The paiticles of which the clod is composed contain pores which may foun a rerervoir for moisture, but they cannot act as vehicles for tho food of pi. mts, as the roots cannot penetrate all parts of tho clod, but aie confined to the intcistirial canal. The l.utreT the clod, the srre.ater is the loss of fertility until it is broken up. It is evident th.it a lumpy soil will feel the effects of a diy season to a gioater degree than land of naturally the same quality, but piopeily woiked. When in a state of complete pulvensation the surface of each individual particle of soil is brought into contact with the lain water as it passe downwaid", and, theiefoie, every capillary pore ha" a chance of taking in a supply, and as there is time for the process of absorption. A fall of rain capable of moistening a well-woiked boil, would pass into aud through a mass of clods with little elt'ect. The escape is so rapid that only the particles on tho surfaco are biough into contact with the moisture, and the air circulates co freely that this small stock of moisture is soon dried up.

KiN(i Humbert has offered Garibaldi a yonily pension of £1200. Tiu:re are four metallic qualifications which holp a man thiough tho world — iion in his heart, brass in his face, silver in hi<> tongue, and gold in his pocket. While a slave in Virginia, State Senator Bin ton, of Fort Bend County, Texas, who is now worth £20,000, was taught to read and write by his mistress, whom he if forwards rewarded by supporting 1 her till her death, the war having impoverished her, and sending her daiightcr a cheque for £200 on her wedding day. The Baroness Burdett-Coutts is President, and the Duke of Connaught, the 15arl of Rosslyn, Prince Christian, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Earl of Shaftesbury, the Earl of Verulam, Lord Berwick, and Lord Leigh are Viee-Presi-donts of the British Bee Keepers' Association. Mr Worth, the famous dressmaker, is said to have a largo aviary filled with beautiful buds of every hue from all parts of *the world, and he spends hours in studying them. From these, and the strange harmonies brought out of discord by one magical bit of perfectly unexpected colouring which combines and reconciles all, it is asserted that he derives his inspiration for his most charming but somewhat expensive dresses. The total income of the Foreign Mission, Home Mission, and Religious Educational .Societies in England for 1881 was £1,737,239, as compared with £1,728,125 for 1880. The British and Foreign Bible Society, with an income of £209,619, and the Religious Tract Society, with £ 1 93, 580, head the list. Thirteen years ago, Skobeleff, the "hero of Plevna," of whom Lieutenant Green, in his "Army Life in Russia," predicts that he will equal if not surpass Wellington some day, was a private soldier.