Page:The Olive Its Culture in Theory and Practice.djvu/63

Rh Absorbtion is greater by night than by day. and recently cultivated ground is the most receptive, as it exposes the greater number of particles to the action of the air. As the earth grows dry. its capacity to absorb moisture diminishes. So we observe that ground frequently and thoroughly cultivated retains moisture the longest. THE DRYING QUALITY OF SOILS.

These figures indicate what we see in practice, that the more sandy the soil, the sooner it dries. Some soils when they dry, actually diminish in volume, and through splits and cracks expose the roots of the tree. Sandy, limey and gypsum soils do not have this drawback; the others vary in the following degrees.