AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2682, 11 December 1909, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION.

LECTURE BY" MR. E. G. LOTEN

Mr. E. G. Loten, instructor in agriculture and dairying, under the Hawke’s Bay Education Board, met the, teachers of the town. schools at the Gisborne School yesterday afternoon, and those of the schools of the surrounding country at Matawhero last evening. At each gathering he gave an address on the question of “Soil Moisture.” He (pointed out that there Avere three kinds of moisture present in the .soil, namely, free or. ground moisture, capillary moisture, and hydroscopic moisture. The free or ground moisture is that resulting from the rain Ai-hich percolates through the. soil, under the influence of gravitation. Capillary moisture is that which is held in the inter-cellular spaces by the force of adhesion, and hyrdo.scopic moisture is the moisture taken up by the soil from the air. The best condition for plant development is Avlien the Avater is continuous throughout the soil. There are two methods by Avliich moisture is lost from the soil, firstly, direct evaporation from the .surface of the soil under the influence of the sun, and, secondly, transpiration, or loss of water, from the leaf surface of the plants growing thereon. In regard to the question of the use of water to the plant, Mr. Loten pointed out that water itself is a plant food, and, on account of its being a solvent, it is the medium by which .soluble plant foods from the soil are taken into the plants. Concerning the water and the soil. Mr. Loten said that rain conveys fertilising ingredients from the air to the soil, equalises the temperature during seasons of drought, carries food to the roots of the plant, and Avashes noxious matters out of the soil. After the close of each meeting a number of practical experiments were carried out. The teachers’ class in elementary chemistry will meet this morning at 11 o’clock, at the Technical School, where. Mr. Loten will give a lecture, illustrated by experiments, on the element oxygen, its preparation, •properties, and use in agriculture. Mr. Loten will leave for Napier by to-morrow’s .steamer.