In dry-farming, where the limiting factor
is water, this principle must he emphasized in every cultural
operation.
Methods of controlling transpiration
It would appear that at present the only means possessed by the
farmer for controlling transpiration and making possible maximum
crops with the minimum amount of water in a properly tilled soil is
to keep the soil as fertile as is possible. In the light of this
principle the practices already recommended for the storing of water
and for the prevention of the direct evaporation of water from the
soil are again emphasized. Deep and frequent plowing, preferably in
the fall so that the weathering of the winter may be felt deeply and
strongly, is of first importance in liberating plant-food.
Cultivation which has been recommended for the prevention of the
direct evaporation of water is of itself an effective factor in
setting free plant-food and thus in reducing the amount of water
required by plants. The experiments at the Utah Station, already
referred to, bring out very strikingly the value of cultivation in
reducing the transpiration.
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