546 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



is supporting a large and growing bureau in the Department of Agri- 

 culture for the classifying and mapping of the soils in the principal 

 agricultural areas, supporting these surveys with strong laboratories 

 for the investigation of soil phenomena, its management and economic 

 control. More interesting to note, is the growth of this work with some 

 of the individual states which, either in cooperation with the surveys 

 of the national government or individually, are now annually expend- 

 ing many thousands of dollars in this direction, with the firm conviction 

 that in no other way could a surer investment be secured for ultimate 

 large returns. But the work upon soils, thus hastily sketched, has been 

 and is being done almost entirely upon the physical side. This has been, 

 in the past, in accordance with the peculiar nature of the case. But 

 there is another side, no less important, as difficult, possibly more diffi- 

 cult, to handle, giving justification for the title to this paper. 



The results which are being obtained both by the national Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, by the many experiment stations, and other 

 agricultural institutions connected with the American universities, are 

 being freely disseminated among the people, and the major part of the 

 results obtained abroad, not only in England, Germany and France, 

 but in Eussia, Sweden, Norway, Holland, Japan and elsewhere, are 

 available to any intelligent farmer in this country who cares to take 

 a little trouble and pains to obtain them. This being the case, the 

 question naturally arises as to the reason why the practical agricul- 

 turists of this country make so little use of these results. For it is not 

 to be doubted that the 'agricultural possibilities of the soils of the 

 United States are very great — certainly much greater than has been 

 realized thus far. The answer to this question is partly a psychological 

 and wholly a sociological one. With some few exceptions, the farmers 

 at large do not approach their occupation with the point of view con- 

 noted by the term 'business principles.' Perhaps this idea is best 

 brought out in the yet current classification of man's occupations into 

 the learned professions, farming and business. It is generally recog- 

 nized by all professional men that their best success is obtained when 

 the principles of business men are applied to their own affairs. As a 

 matter of fact, what are usually called business principles are sound 

 scientific methods. But this has not been recognized as yet by the 

 main body of farmers in this country, and they seem to be actuated 

 in the management of their farms largely by sentiment, much as some 

 men take their religion or their politics, because their fathers managed 

 in this way, therefore that is the way in which they should manage. 

 Their forebears did well, under vastly different conditions and standards 

 than those which obtain to-day, and the obvious fact that the de- 

 scendants are not doing so well is met with all manner of explanations 

 and excuses, which, just as obviously, have little or nothing to do with 



