_Adjusting the Water Content of Soils._--Aside from the supplying of water by irrigation, a rather costly process under most conditions, the water resources of most soils can be greatly increased by adding to their humus content. Humus, which, it has been pointed out, is decaying vegetable matter, serves as a sponge for the absorption of soil water and for underground water supplies. Therefore, the more humus that can be plowed into the soil, other conditions being equal, the greater is the ability of the plants growing in that soil to withstand drouth. As soils are cultivated, the tendency is for the humus to become "burned out" and to have a reduced moisture-holding capacity. To overcome this tendency, it is necessary to add vegetable matter to the soil whenever it is possible. Incidentally, the incorporation of large quantities of humus in the soil creates a condition of acidity which may call for the application of lime as a corrective. There are many acres of land which contain too much water in the area that roots should penetrate to permit of optimum plant growth. Roots of most plants will not penetrate where there is an excess of water, and air cannot circulate where moisture is superabundant. Usually these conditions exist where the soil is of a clayey nature. The abundance of water may be caused by the inability of surface water to percolate through the soil. It may take so long, due to the nature of the soil, for this water to pass through the lower depths of subsoil that the roots of plants are destroyed by lack of oxygen. In such cases the application of lime, increasing the humus content, and deeper plowing will be found helpful. Occasionally, the discharge of dynamite or blasting powder in the area, if it appears to be in the form of a pocket, will break up the hard pan subsoil and permit the water to escape. Less dependence is now being placed on this means of correcting a wet condition of the soil than was the case some years ago. A similar condition of overabundant water in soil may be due to the presence of springs or to a high water table. Little can be done to correct a condition where the water table itself is so close to the surface as to inhibit plant growth and this is assuredly one of the factors to be looked into before a tract is purchased. Where the surplus water is evidently being supplied by a spring, an underdrain made of tile pipe, 3 or 4 inches in diameter, can be laid as a means of conducting the water into a ditch or adjoining drain. In laying such a drain, it should be placed above the area where the wet soil surface is most evident. If such a drain is laid 18 inches to 3 feet deep above the wet area, it will cut off the water seeping down underground and carry it away. Good results cannot be secured if the drain is laid directly in the area of extreme wetness or if it does not cut off the flow of water before it reaches the area that is consistently too wet for plant growth.