176 ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



phoric acid and potash, while in the presence of these, other things 

 being equal, the growth of crops would be in proportion to their 

 amounts that might be made available from year to year. 



It is a fact— and facts are stubborn things, and cannot be gain- 

 said — that the capital stock of any country, and, therefore, its pres- 

 ent and prospective wealth, lies in its natural resources. In an 

 agricultural country these resources are in its soil, and since the 

 value of the soil, or its sustained power to produce crops is measured 

 by the content of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, together 

 with the condition which make them available to plants, it foUow^s 

 that this capital stock of fertility in our soils, these national re- 

 sources are reduced in proportion as these elements are permanently 

 removed from them. These, I repeat, are facts now clearly recog- 

 nized, and it is upon them that the fertilizer industry in this and 

 other countries is based, an industry, which, though in a sense 

 only in its infancy, has already reached magnificent proportions, and 

 will continue to grow in keeping with the needs for artificial plant 

 food. Any system of farming must, however, result in a removal 

 from the soil of the elements of fertility, yet there is a system which, 

 if carried out, would result in a minimum rather than a maximum 

 removal of those from the soil, and this system, which provides for 

 the maintenance of the physical and chemical character of soils in 

 other respects, may be regarded as constructive. There is not a 

 farmer but can point out numerous examples of what may be termed 

 '^constructive" and "destructive," or good and poor farming, in these 

 respects. On the one hand, we have the man who, under normal 

 conditions, always gets good crops, whose fertile fields are always 

 occupied, whose cat fie are sleek and fat, and whose home is a center 

 of happiness, culture and content; while on the other we have the 

 man whose crops, while not always poor, are never good; whose 

 fields, only partially occupied by plants, are furrowed and gullied 

 by the winter and summer rains; whose lean cattle are lowing for 

 food, and whose home is poorly provided for, and is the center of 

 worry and discontent. The same natural forces are potent for good 

 in each case; in the first they are directed and help to build up the 

 farm, while in the other they are antagonized or neglected, and help 

 to destroy. 



1 am well aware that these considerations are general, and have 

 no specific application to the individual farmer; but with the general 

 situation clearly outlined, it is possible for us to apply the principles 

 to our own farms. In the first place, ho^^•ever, we must know 

 something of the origin and formation of soils, for while soils vary 

 in many respects, there are certain qualities which are common to 

 all. That is, it makes no difference whether the original rock from 

 which a soil is derived, was either of the three classes, sedimentary, 

 metamorphic or eruptive. All soils, whether derived from limestone, 

 sandstone, granite or trap, must possess certain characteristics, as 

 fineness of division, measuring mechanical or physical properties, 

 and must contain the mineral food elements, which plants need, and 

 must be capable of having incorporated with the.m vegetable mat- 

 ter. These give to soils the qualities that measure fertility, namely, 

 physical, chemical and biological, which make them valuable as a 

 medium for the growth of plants, supplying them not only with the 

 moisture they require at the time they require it, and providing 



