158 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



is, man turns to the experiment station for assistance, and becomes 

 an adept in the use of insecticides and fungicides, or else does noth- 

 ing but lament that times are not what they once were. With all 

 the aid of science, there is room for lamentation too often. 



He does more. He does that he should not do, and leaves undone 

 that he should do — too often. But it is a glorious thing to be in 

 control of a part of God's earth — to study, to plan, to try, and to 

 win in some measure — each vear determined to be more intelligent 

 in that control. He who will not do this should go to the city or 

 get ofC the earth. 



SOIL IMPROVEMENT THE KEYNOTE OF AGRICULTURE. 



By R. S. SEEDS, Birmiirfiham. Pa. 



The bell, in ancient times, was to the people about as important 

 as the steam whistle is to-day, and in casting the bell the most im- 

 portant feature in its construction was the keynote. The keynote 

 to the bell is as essential as soil improvement to agriculture. This 

 seems to be more apparent every year. I notice at the Fifth Annual 

 Round-Up of the Michigan State Farmers' Institute ait Ann Arbor, 

 February 27, 1900, the programme was: 



1. The Soil from a Chemical Standpoint. 



2. The Soil, as a Bacteriologist Sees It. 



3. Maintaining Fertility with Green Manures. 



4. Soil Physics. Moisture Most Important. 



This is and ought to be the paramount question of the farmer, and 

 I have somewhat changed my mind on the subject. I said last year, 

 at Bloomsburg, that the first and most important thing for the 

 farmer was fertility; the second, the home, and third, education. 

 I now think there are twenty things very essential for the farmer. 

 One is the home, one is education, and the other eighteen are the 

 improvement of the soil. 



I would have preferred to talk on some other subject on this oc- 

 casion, for it seems to me I hear every man say in his mind, ''Well, 

 here is Seeds with his hobby again." But, being requested to speak 

 on this subject, I expect you to take your medicine willingly. 



For years I have noticed the land in Pennsylvania go down in 

 productiveness, and crops grow smaller every year. Many crops 

 freeze out in the winter or dry out in the summer time. Neither 

 wheat or grass grow as large as they did in my grandfather's days. 



