Watering techniquecs and methods

The cutting of canals makes for the regular and correct watering of large areas of land. Three methods of watering have received the widest recognition: gravity-flow surface irrigation, subsoil irrigation and sprin­kling.

Most widespread today is the first method. Gravity-flow surface irrigation is effected in three ways depending on the structure of the soil, on the cultivated crops and requirements of agronomy:

a) furrow irrigation;

b) border flooding;

c) flooding.

Under the furrow method the water from the canals, furrows or pipelines flows in strips over the surface, or is fed into the irrigation furrow. Furrow irrigation is used for all the widespaced-row crops (cotton, maize, potatoes, sugar-beet, etc.).

The border flooding method is used for narrow-row crops (various grasses, grains, etc.). The flooding method is used chiefly for rice-growing and for leaching out saline soils.

Under the subsoil method, the water is fed from pipes or artificial mole-passages running underground. Subsoil irrigation has a great future. It is most effectively used on vine­yards, in berry gardens and vegetable farming.

In sprinkling or overhead irrigation the water is pulverized over the field in the form of artificial rain.

This method has found particularly broad application because of its high degree of mechanization and the possibil­ity of using it on abrupt slopes.

Of course in many cases dry farming can be combined with sprinkling.

TEXT 12

LAND RECLAMATION

Great stress has also been laid on land reclamation. There exist different ways of land reclamation.

On marshland drainage is made use of. In result of this crop land and meadow land are reclaimed from what was formerly waste land. The retirement of water is carried out by means of a system of ditches, principally tile ditches (that is ditches faced with tile) and mole drainage (or under­ground drainage).

Combating erosion constitutes the next division of land reclamation. On broken country erosion may be due in the place to gullying (the formation of gullies) which must be closed essentially by planting shrubs or- afforestation, or by level terracing with grass or bushes grown on the level-ter­race ground. This is known as gully detention. To prevent the water of heavy rains from forming new gullies grassed waterways or diversion ditches are foreseen, where the grass prevents washing of soil.

On silt-loam, sandy and other soils, including even black-earth (chernozem), scorching winds blowing away the top­most layer of the soil are a real scourge.

To fight the carrying away of fine earth as a result of sand-blows, shelter-belts (or windbreaks) constitute the chief means, while rolling the soil is likewise a most useful practice.

TEXT 13

SOIL AND SOIL FERTILITY

All plants grow in the soil. If you want to have high yields of grains, fruits and vegetables you must have a fertile soil. All crops grow well in a good soil. They cannot grow well if the soil is poor. People who have vegetable gardens must work hard there. They must dig the ground with a spade and loosen it with a rake. They may apply some fertilizers. They must water the plants and weed their vegetable gardens.

All vegetables and other crops respond to fertilizers very well. Agricultural soils must have some organic matter and some mineral matter.

Crops cannot grow well if there is not enough water, plant .food, heat and air.

Collective farmers work many hours in the fields and they get good yields of wheat, rye, oats, barley, corn, millet, buckwheat, cabbage, beet, carrot, beans, peas, lettuce, onion, radish and other crops.

Soil fertility is very important for agricultural crops.

TEXT 14

PLANT LIFE

Plants are very important for man's life. They supply us with different food products and fibre. Domestic animals use plants as fodder.

Plants grow and develop in the soil. They obtain the necessary nutrients from the soil and air.

Minerals and nitrogen are obtained by the plants from simple salts in watery solution. Carbohydrates are synthe­sized by plants from carbon dioxide which is in the atmosphere and water. The source of energy for the process of photosyn­thesis is sunlight.

The principal parts of the plants are the root system, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds. All these parts have different functions but they are all very important for plant growth and development.

Plants may be annuals, biennials and perennials. Annual plants produce seeds the first year. Biennials produce seeds the second year. Perennials produce seeds during many years. Seeds germinate at different temperatures. The optimum tem­perature for rye, wheat, oats and barley is about 20°—25°C. In order to grow and develop well plants must have good soil and climatic conditions. They must have enough water, nutrients, heat, air and light.

One of the most important tasks of the collective farmers is to properly till the soil.

TEXT 15

THE SOIL

Soil Formation. Soil is produced from rock by the pros of weathering and by the activities of plants, animals, and man. Primitive or igneous rocks,¹ formed by the soli­dification of the magma in the process of the cooling of the earth consist of aggregates of mineral crystals which are large or small according to the rate at which cooling took place. Each mineral is a chemical compound with specific chemical and physical properties. As soon as igneous rocks are exposed to changing temperatures, moisture, etc. slow processes of disintegration and decomposition begin.

The weathering of a rock is generally due to a combination of physical and chemical actions. The weathered products of rock alone do not constitute a soil. Plants estab­lish themselves very soon after weathering begins, and the mineral material thus becomes mixed with plant remains. These remains, in the process of decay, form an addition to the products of rock weathering. Soil is therefore a mixture of organic and inorganic material containing a large and com­plex population of living things.

The general character of a soil depends to a considerable extent on the nature of the parent material. Thus a coarse-grained sandstone will generally produce a sandy soil, and a stratum of shale a "heavy" soil.

TEXT 16

WHAT IS ECONOMICS?

Unlike history, mathematics, English and chemistry, eco­nomics is a subject that most students encounter only briefly some­times not at all, before they begin college. Economics is a basic discipline, like those just listed, not an applied subject like ac­counting or drafting in which specific skills are taught.

Economics has some similarities to mathematics because logical reasoning and mathematical tools are used in it exten­sively. It also has some similarities to history because economics studies people as they interact in social groups.

Like chemistry, economics employs the scientific method, although some of economics has a descriptive rather than an an­alytical flavour. Finally, like English grammar, economics has a few simple rules and principles, but from these principles eco­nomics can derive many conclusions.

Economics is the science of making choices. Individuals must decide whether to study another hour or to go for a walk, whether to buy a six-pack of Pepsi or a 0,5 gallon of milk at the grocery, whether to choose fire fighting or teaching as an occupa­tion and whether to play golf or to watch television for an after­noon of recreation. As a group, people must also choose through their governments whether to build a dam or to repair highways with their taxes, whether to invest money to business or to ex­pand national parks.

The common element in all these decisions is that every choice involves a cost. (Reading this text means that you are not enjoying a bike ride).

In fact, economics is the study of the choice that people make and the actions that they take in order to make the best use of scarce resources in meeting their wants.

Economics is about the everyday life. How do we get our living? Why do we sometimes get more and sometimes less? Are we producing as efficiently as we could? Are we producing the «right things»? What are the «right things»? Who ought to decide this and why? The study of economics helps us to answer this sort of questions.

TEXT 17

ECONOMIC SYSTEMS

An economic system is the way in which a country uses its available resources (land, workers, natural resources, machinery) to satisfy the demands of its inhabitants for goods and services. There are three main economic systems: planned economics, market economics, mixed economics.

Planned economics are economics with large amount of central planning and direction, when the government takes all the decisions, the government decides production and consump­tion, the government owns all the major productive resources. Changes in demand are difficult to predict, that's why some prod­ucts are overproduced, the other ones are underproduced. Delays and queues are typical features of planned economics. The former USSR and some other eastern bloc countries are examples of countries where government decision were dominant.

In a true market economy the government plays no role in the management of the economy. The system is based on private enterprise with private ownership of the means of production and private supplies of capital. Workers are paid wages by employers according to how skilled they are and how many firms wish to employ them. Consumers spend more on products and services which they like. In a market economy it is consumer who decides what is to be produced. Consumers pay high prices for products they like. The economy adjusts automatically to meet changing demands.

A mixed economy contains elements of both market and planned economies. It lies between the two extremes of com­mand and market economies. In mixed economies some resourc­es are controlled by the government while others are used in re­sponse to the demands of consumers. Practically, all the econo­mies of the world are mixed. For example, Hong Kong has some state-controlled industry, while Cuba has some privately owned and controlled firms. In a mixed economy the government and the private sector interact in solving economic problems. The U.K. is a mixed economy: some services are provided by the state (health care and defence) while a number of privately owned en­terprises offer other goods and services.

TEXT 18

TYPES OF PRODUCTS

Products can be grouped in different ways (One approach is to distinguish between goods and services. Goods are basically objects, they can be touched, stored, transported and mass-pro­duced. Services, consisting primarily of actions, have opposite characteristics. In general, services require different pricing, dis­tribution and promotion techniques than goods do.).

The most widely spread one to categorize products is to look at who is doing the buying - individual consumers or indus­trial / organizational buyers. According to that approach all con­sumer goods can be divided into three subgroup: convenience goods, shopping goods and specialty goods.

Convenience goods are products that are readily available, low prices, and heavily advertised and that consumers buy quickly and often. They are inexpensive items like toothpaste, soda and razor blades. Because the buyer is already familiar with these things, habit is a strong influence in the purchase decision. People buy the same old brand or go to the same old shop because it is easy to do so. To cultivate these strong buying habits, many sellers of convenience goods use advertising and packaging to create an easily recognizable image.

Shopping goods are products for which a consumer spends a lot of time shopping in order to compare prices, quality and style. These are fairly important things that a person doesn't buy every day, like a stereo, a washing machine, a good suit. One reason a purchase requires more thought is the difference among brands in terms of price or features. The existence of these differ­ences prompts comparison shopping. The shopping process is a form of education; the more unusual and expensive the product, the more the buyer checks around to compare models, features and prices. Various sources of information are used advertise­ments, sales people, friends and relatives.

Specialty goods are products that a consumer will make a special effort to buy. These are things like luxury items, channel perfume, Brooks Brothers suits, cars.

There are two basic types of industrial products: expense items and capital items.

Expense items come in two basic types: support consum­ables and industrial process consumables.

Support consumables includes inexpensive items used to support business - rubber bands, paper, file folders.

Industrial process consumables includes goods that are used in the basic operations of business, such as raw materials and component parts required in a manufacturing process.

Capital items are relatively expensive industrial goods that have a long life and are used in the operations of a business. They are: trucks, major pieces of equipment. If a capital item is very expensive, the purchase decision is often based on written com­petitive bids. These bids are evaluated by a team of top managers and technical people.

TEXT 19

HAMBURGER

Hamburger is also called burger, or ground beef. The term is ap­plied variously to a patty of ground beef, sometimes called ham-burg steak, Salisbury steak, or Vienna steak, a sandwich consisting of a patty of beef served within a split bread roll, with various garnish­es, or the ground beef itself, which is used as a base in many sauces, and other dishes.

The origin of hamburger is obscure. An American chef from Con­necticut, Louis Lassen is believed to have made and sold the first ham­burgers in America in 1898. He called them hamburgers because sail­ors from Hamburg in Germany gave him the recipe. Students from Yale University and businessmen loved them and bought them, with time popularity of the new product expanding far outside Connecticut.

The importance of the hamburger in the 20th-century American culture is indicated by its virtually universal use at backyard barbe­cues as well as its availability at various types of cafes, the so-called hamburger stands and fast-food restaurants, the best known chains being McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's.

Hamburgers are usually eaten as a sandwich, between two halves of a round bun. Mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup, and other condiments, along with garnishes of lettuce, onion, tomato, and cucumber are the most commonly used dressings. In the variation known as the cheese­burger, a slice of cheese is melted over the patty. The patty itself is often seasoned with chopped onions, spices, or bread crumbs before cooking.

According to the US DA standards, hamburger meat may be defined as either "hamburger", "chopped beef, or "ground beef. It must be ground from fresh beef with no by-products or nonmeat additives, but the USDA does permit the addition of some beef fat and other condi­ments in meat labeled "hamburger". Also, by law, hamburger and chopped or ground beef sold commercially may contain no more than 30 percent fat. Fifteen percent fat is regarded as the ideal proportion in terms of juiciness and flavour of the cooked product.