EXPEEIMENT STATION", 69 



of 1000 lbs. of the best Peruvian guano to the acre, and the other 

 nothing." 



Mr. Porter's observation that muriate of potash was used on his 

 land with great success for potatoes, goes to show that potash 

 (soluble in cold hydrochloric acid) while existing in his soil to the 

 extent of 0.056 per cent., or a long ton, (2240 lbs.) per acre, for 1 

 foot of depth, is not present there in such a state of solubility as 

 that crops can gather it rapidly enough for their necessities. 



The fact that a few hundred pounds of active (soluble) ferti- 

 lizers give good crops, shows that when by external aid plants 

 have been brought to a certain development of root and leaf they 

 are then able to gather a good share of their nourishment from 

 this soil. 



The failure of these meadows to give a good crop of good 

 grass may not be altogether due to lack of plant-food. The text- 

 ure and physical qualities of the soil exercise oftentimes a con- 

 trolling influence on the kind and amount of vegetation which it 

 supports. Simple drainage and deep tillage which can have no 

 immediate effect on the quantity of the elements that are com- 

 monly regarded important to fertilizers or to the soil, often reno- 

 vate the field by removing too much water and admitting more 

 air, and thus deepening the available tilth. 



As Mr. Porter says, "the soil is sick and it must be built up the 

 same as animals when sick," Now the physician when called to 

 a patient will first assure himself that th e sanitary conditions are 

 what they should be : — that is, that his patient is warm and dry 

 and his system in a condition to respond to medicine when it is 

 given. If he is not comfortably placed, medicine may do no 

 good and rather aggravate than improve his condition. To carry 

 out the simile, in building u-p sick land the rule should be, first of 

 all, to make sure that its physical condition is what it should be, 

 and if it is too wet or cold, too compact or too leachy, to remedy 

 these defects by tillage, drainage and the use of amendments. 

 When that is done, we may apply medicine, in the form of ferti- 

 lizers, if indeed the land does not recuperate without them, but if 

 it is not done little benefit is to be expected from any amount of 

 fertilizers. 



This is what Mr. Porter has done with gratifying success. 

 Under date of Nov. 24, 1882, he writes : "We plowed 6 acres in 

 June (1881), harrowed and sowed to buckwheat. The seed did 

 not germinate well, although a neighbor who had some of the 



