5. It is desirable that manure should be applied in the fall preceding corn planting.
4. Define the dictionary form of the following words:
preferring, known, cooler, believed, inches, given, highest, better, applied, existing, best, varieties, less, supplies.
5. Find in text А:
1. усилительную конструкцию It is … that (2-ой, 6-ой абзацы);
2. причастие II в функции правого определения к существительному
(4-й, 7-й абзацы);
3. независимый причастный оборот;
4. неполные предложения.
Vocabulary Focus
| Handwrite the words and word combinations related to text A and give their Russian equivalents. Check them in the agronomy and soil science dictionaries. |
| extensive, profitable, peat, muck, tolerant, acidity, to blossom, to set, piece, whole, to be subject to, to dig, digger, to sprout, to eliminate. |
6. Read and translate text A.
Text 18A
Potatoes
Potato, Solanum tuberosum (lat.), known both as the Irish potato and as the white potato, is related to such plants as tomato, eggplant, and tobacco. Potato is believed to have been cultivated first in Peru. It was carried to Spain, Italy, and Germany about the middle of the 16th century.
It is the importance of potato as food that is generally recognized. In addition to its extensive use as food, potato is used both in agriculture as livestock feed and in industry. Now it is grown in most countries of the world.
Profitable yields appear to be possible where the average growing season temperature is between 60° and 70° F, and where the rainfall reaches 12-18 inches, being well distributed over a period from three to four months. That is why commercial production is largely limited to the areas where the climate is fairly cool and moist.
Soils preferred are drained sandy loams well supplied with organic matter and available plant food. If well-drained, peat or muck soils are particularly good for potato production. Potato is known to be tolerant of soil acidity. It makes a satisfactory growth and yield on a soil with a pH range of 4.8 to 5.4.
The best planting date should provide cool, moist conditions when the plants are blossoming and setting tubers, and relatively short days in the growing season for maximum tuber development.
It is because of the economy of the seeding material that most seed tubers are cut into pieces. However, the cut seed is not better than whole tubers from the standpoint of yield, and cutting adds labour cost. Morover, when cut, the seed is more subject to drying out and diseases.
The depth of planting varies with the soil type and the equipment used, 3 to 4 inches generally being the best depth. The fertility of the soil and its moisture-holding capacity, the climate, the variety, and the amount of fertilizer applied affect spacing within and between rows.
At present almost all potatoes grown on a commercial scale are harvested by mechanical two-row diggers, that dig, pick up and load the crop.
When ready to store, the tubers should be clean, mature and free from injury. It is necessary that the temperature be between 36° and 40° F to prevent sprouting. There should be enough ventilation to provide oxygen and eliminate carbon dioxide and heat of respiration.
Notes to the text
1. from the standpoint of ... – с точки зрения;
2. on a commercial scale – в промышленном масштабе.
Remember:
(в смысле очень, весьма, чрезвычайно, сильно)
greatly – в большой степени
highly – в высшей степени
largely – в значительной степени
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Grammar and vocabulary activities
7. Translate the following sentences containing that (those) in the different meanings:
1. The system of crop rotation that is used on our farm has raised soil fertility and improved soil structure.
2. The roots of alfalfa penetrate into the soil much deeper than those of other cereals.
3. It is undesirable that cutting of seed tubers be done, for cut seeds are more subject to diseases.
4. It is the organic matter content of the soil that can be increased with difficulty.
5. Forage crops grown on our farm are better than those grown on the neighboring farm.
6. The seedbed for potatoes should be plowed to a considerable depth, so that best conditions for tuber development be ensured.
7. The variety of corn developed by our Experimental Station does better in our region than that one.
8. It is well-known that fine pulverization of the soil minimises moisture losses.
9. This selection of a proper variety, that is, the variety that is best adapted to any given soil and climatic conditions is essential for obtaining high yields.