|
The statement is sometimes made that water from wells is too coldto be suited for watering plants, and also that such water often lackschemicals which serve as plant food. On the contrary, successfulgardeners often water plants at midday on hot summer days in orderto gain the cooling effect of the water when it is most needed. It isalso believed by some experienced observers that water falling on thesoil reaches the soil temperature very quickly after being absorbed andin all but a negligible number of instances, before it reaches the rootsof plants. With regard to the question of the amount of plant foodcontained in water from a deep-driven well as compared to theamount found in surface water such as that flowing in a creek or riverthere seems to be little reason to think that water from wells is lack-ing in plant food to such an extent as to make it less valuable thansurface water. It is now agreed that surface water contains more solidmatter in suspension while subterranean water has its load of solid mat-ter in solution. Therefore the plant food which occurs in water from adriven well differs from the plant food found in river water merely inbeing more likely to occur in solution rather than in suspension. Thewater which is taken from artesian wells is not always sterile andoften contains nitrates in large quantities due to the reduction of thenitrates which occur in deep layers in the soil. When this water isused for irrigating the surface layer of the soil, the nitrifying bacteria |
|||
|
