But to go back to farm matters. In August the ground was stirred for the
second time around the young trees. To do this, the mulch was turned
back and the surface for a space of three feet all around the tree was
loosened by hoe or mattock, and the mulch was then returned. The trees
were vigorous, and their leaves had the polish of health, in spite of
the dry July and August. The mulching must receive the credit for much
of this thrift, for it protected the soil from the rays of the sun and
invited the deep moisture to rise toward the surface. Few people realize
the amount of water that enters into the daily consumption of a tree. It
is said that the four acres of leaf surface of a large elm will
transpire or yield to evaporation eight tons of water in a day, and that
it takes more than five hundred tons of water to produce one ton of hay,
wheat, oats, or other crop. This seems enormous; but an inch of rain on
an acre of ground means more than a hundred tons of water, and
precipitation in our part of the country is about thirty-six inches per
annum, so that we can count on over thirty-six hundred tons of water per
acre to supply this tremendous evaporation of plant life.
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