The First Book of Farming Part 17

We noticed that nature provides that most of the flowers shall be cross pollinated. This is particularly true of the flowers of the fruit trees, and for this reason it is impossible to get true varieties of fruit from seed. For example, if we plant seeds of the wine sap apple, the new trees produced from them will not produce the same kind of apple but each tree will produce something different and they will very likely all be poorer than the parent fruit. This is because of the mixture of pollens which fertilize the pistils. Knowing this fact the nurseryman plants apple seeds and grows apple seedlings.

When these get to be the size of a lead pencil he grafts them, that is, he digs them up, cuts off the tops away down to the root and then takes twigs from the variety he wishes to grow and sets or splices these twigs in the roots of the seedlings and then plants them. The root and the new top unite and produce a tree that bears the same kind of fruit as that produced by the tree from which the twig was taken.

These are a few of the reasons why it is well to know something about flowers and their work.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 76.--FLOWER OF A LILY.

Notice how the stigma and the anthers are kept as far as possible from each other to guard against self-pollination and to insure cross-pollination.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 77.

Bud and flower of jewel-weed, or "touch-me-not." _A._ Interior of bud.

Stamens are seen, but there appears to be no pistil. _B._ Section of bud showing the pistil concealed behind the stamens. _C._ Bee entering flower comes in contact with stamens and is loaded with pollen. _D._ Same bee entering older flower. The stamens have ripened and been pushed off by the lengthened pistil, which is brushed by the back of the bee, and thus is pollinated. This is a contrivance to insure cross-pollination.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 78.

_A._ Pistillate flower of strawberry.

_B._ Perfect flower of strawberry. (Drawing by M.E. Feltham.)]

FRUIT

The pistil develops and forms the fruit of the plant. This fruit bears seed for the production of new plants. This fruit may be a dry pod like the bean or pea, or it may be a fleshy fruit like the apple or plum. Now the developing pistil or fruit may be checked in its work of seed production by insects and diseases, and to secure good fruit it is in many cases necessary to spray the fruits just as the leaves are sprayed, to keep these insects and diseases in check.

The fruits of most plants, like the leaves, need light and air for their best development, and it sometimes happens that the branches of the fruit trees grow so thick that the fruits do not get sufficient light and air. This makes it necessary to thin the branches or in other words to prune the tree. Some trees also start more fruit than they can properly feed and as a result the ripened fruits are small and the tree is weakened. This makes it necessary to thin the fruits while they are young and undeveloped.

PART II

Soil Fertility as Affected by Farm Operations and Farm Practices

THE FIRST BOOK OF FARMING

PART II

_Soil Fertility as Affected by Farm Operations and Farm Practices_

CHAPTER XVI

A FERTILE SOIL

What is a fertile soil?

The expression a fertile soil is often used as meaning a soil that is rich in plant food. In its broader and truer meaning a fertile soil is one in which are found all the conditions necessary to the growth and development of plant roots.

These conditions, as learned in Chapter II, are as follows:

The root must have a firm yet mellow soil.

It must be well supplied with moisture.

It must be well supplied with air.

It must have a certain amount of heat.

It must be supplied with available plant food.

In order to furnish these needs or conditions the soil must possess certain characteristics or properties.

These properties may be grouped under three heads:

Physical properties; the moisture, heat and air conditions needed by the roots.

Biological properties; the work of very minute living organisms in the soil.

Chemical properties; plant food in the soil.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF A FERTILE SOIL

Three very important physical properties of a fertile soil are its

Power to take water falling on the surface.

Power to absorb water from below.

Power to hold water.

The fertile soil must possess all three of these powers. The relative degrees to which these three powers or properties are possessed determine more than anything else the kind of crops or the cla.s.s of crops that will grow best on a given soil.

These powers depend, as we learned in Chapter IV, on the texture of the soil or the relative amounts of sand, silt, clay and humus contained in the soil.

The power of admitting a free circulation of air through its pores is also an important property of a fertile soil, for air is necessary to the life and growth of the roots. This property is dependent also on texture.

Two other important properties of a fertile soil are power to absorb and power to hold heat. These depend upon the power of the soil to take in warm rain and warm air, and also upon density and color. The denser or more compact soil and the darker soil having greater power to absorb heat.

The compactness of the soil which gives it greater powers to absorb heat weakens its powers to hold it, because the compactness allows more rapid conduction of heat to the surface, where it is lost by radiation.

The more moisture a soil holds, the weaker is its heat-holding power, because the heat is used in warming and evaporating water from the surface of the soil.

These important properties or conditions of moisture, heat and air, are, as we have seen, dependent on soil texture and color, which in turn are dependent upon the relative amounts of sand, clay and humus in the soil. We are able to control soil texture and therefore these physical properties to a certain degree by means of tillage and the addition of organic matter or humus (see Chapter IV).

BIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF A FERTILE SOIL

Biology is the story or science of life; and the biological properties of the soil have to do with living organisms in the soil.

The soil of every fertile field is full of very small or microscopic plants called bacteria or germs. They are said to be microscopic because they are so small that they cannot be seen without the aid of a powerful magnifying gla.s.s or microscope. They are so small that it would take about 10,000 average-sized soil bacteria or soil germs placed side by side to measure one inch.