700 Grasses and Leguminous Crops in New York 



inquired what was the average yield of grain and on being told 

 asked, "And you get no increase when you apply sufficient phos- 

 phoric acid to grow from three to five bushels more ?" Being again 

 answered in the negative, he said: " Evidentlv vou have sufficient 

 phosphoric acid and enough water to grow the first-named amount. 

 It is as necessary to increase the water to obtain an increased yield 

 as it is the plant food." The illustration is illuminative. Again, 

 moisture is necessary for the development of soil bacteria. 



poor drainage 



At first glance this might seem like a contradiction. There is 

 a great diflference between a soil saturated with water and one 

 with a film of water surrounding the soil particles. The former 

 is waterlogged ; air and heat — both vital to plant growth and 

 soil activities — are shut out ; it becomes sour. Plants are shallow- 

 rooted on such soil, and are therefore easily thrown out by the 

 spring frost. Wlien the surface becomes dry later in the season, 

 they wither and die. Such land remains cold a long time, and 

 nitrification cannot take place. It is a well-established fact that a 

 well-drained soil is not only dryer in a wet time, but that it con- 

 tains more moisture in a dry one. Many a dollar spent for clover 

 seed is almost certain to be lost when the seed is sown on undrained, 

 water-saturated soil, while money laid out for drains would return 

 manifold and certain returns for years to come. 



ACIDITY of soil 



It matters not how fertile is the soil and how full of necessary 

 bacteria — if it is acid, clover will not grow. It took me thirty 

 years to learn this lesson, and the loss of many dollars through 

 clover failure — and this on rich, well-drained land, because it was 

 acid. Lime solved the problem ; in this case half a ton of caustic 

 lime or one ton of ground limestone was suificient. Two years' 

 experiments on other fields of a different character indicate that 

 twice this amount is necessary for a satisfactory growth of clover. 

 A tester costing about $5, known as ''Dr. Truog's soil acidity 

 tester '', made by the Central Scientific Company, 420 Orleans St., 

 Chicago, will very accurately determine the amount of lime needed. 

 Many of the farm bureau managers have this tester; all should 

 have it. 



