N(i. 6 DEPARTMENT OK .\( ;Rl(UII/rnRE 327 



HOW IMiANTtS FKKI) AND GROW. 



Uv PuOF. K. L. Watts, Scalp Level. Pa. 



A Llioi*ouj;li kiiowiedgi' of how pluuts feed aud grow, coupled 

 with industry and good uiaiiagement, will insure success for every 

 tiller of the soil. Satisfactory crop production is purely a question 

 of knowledge and its application. Plants must grow and yield 

 bountifully when they receive the proper treatment. As to the 

 right treatment, under existing conditions, each farmer must de- 

 cide for himself. Books, bulletins and lecturers may instruct and 

 guide, but only experience will settle the perplexing problems that 

 come to the thinking farmer. He must study, observe and experi- 

 ment to gain that knowledge which Avill lead to tlie greatest success. 



It is not within the province of this brief jjaper to discuss techni- 

 calities relating to the nutrition aud growth of plants. But an at- 

 tempt will simply be made to bring out some of the more important 

 facts regarding conditions most favorable to the development of 

 plants. • 



PHYSICAL, CONDITION OF SOILS. 



in recent years probably Loo much attention has been given to 

 the use of commercial fertilizers and not enough to the improvement 

 of the mechanical condition of soils. There are thousands of acres 

 of land in Pennsylvania where crop jjroduction would be only 

 slightly increased by the most liberal application of commercial fer- 

 tilizers. It is not our purpose to condemn the use of fertilizers, but 

 we do not hesitate to say that, with most soils, a change in the physi- 

 cal proi)erties is of much greater importance than the application of 

 fertilizers. We have found in our own operations that even the ex- 

 travagant use of fertilizers fails to give satisfactory results when 

 the texture of the soil is unfavorable. One small plot, distinctly 

 clayey, has been heavily manured and treated with a high grade, 

 home -mixed fertilizer for four successive years,, and yet the soil 

 fails to respond in a satisfactory manner because it is not a suitable 

 medium for root development. The soil needs lime to make it loose 

 and frirtl)le; aiid neither manure nor commercial fertilizers will have 



