Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1906 edition. Excerpt: ...Some toils are packed into the jars by pressing with the fist, others such as the Black cotton soil, are best only shaken into the jar. After filling the damped soil into the jar, water is added in quantities of about half a litre per day until the desired quantity has been introduced. Mode of adding water.--In these experiments the water was always added by means of unglazed earthenware cylinders of about 2" diameter and from 6" to 10" deep, provided with small holes in the bottom and lower part of the sides. These cylinders are fixed in position in the centre of the soil when filling the jar, so that the upper edge coincides approximately with that of the jar. By this means the surface soil remains loose, friable, and nearly air-dry, and cracking is thus avoided. The direct loss of water from the soil surface is at the same time much reduced. Experiments which have been made to test this latter point have shown that the loss of water from this cause has been reduced to about one-third by the use of these cylinders of what it would have been had the water been added at the surface of the soil. In some soils, however, experience has shown that the surface becomes air-dry to such a degree by this method of watering, that the germination of the seed and the initial development of the young plant are interfered with, and consequently in such cases water is added at the surface until the plant is established, after which water is best supplied by the cylinders. The question naturally arose as to whether the root development occurred principally in the immediate neighbourhood of the cylinder. It was suspected that this might take place just where the water was introduced, but examination of the root systems has shown that the...