The Bulletin. 7 



of the long period of the struggle for existence between competing 

 species. In other words, under given climatic conditions, the species 

 make the best development that are best adapted to the soil in which 

 they grow. 



Scientists have recently concluded some experiments and made some 

 discoveries that throw great light on the subject under discussion and 

 go far in the confirmation of what they have believed to be true for over 

 a half a century, but have hitherto lacked experimental data sufficient tc 

 justify them in drawing general conclusions. 



Much of our most valuable information on this subject has come from 

 our own and foreign agricultural experiment stations, and no small pari 

 from various botanical laboratories. These scientists have arrived ai 

 extremely interesting conclusions relative to the adaptation of plants tc 

 soil environments, but have been put at great disadvantage in being 

 unable to make practical use of many of their discoveries. To illustrate : 

 The discoverer may say his variety does best on a clay soil. We pointed 

 above that we have already found over fifty types of clay soil. To 

 which one of these is his variety adapted? He may say his varietv 

 makes its best development on a sandy loam soil, but we have about a 

 hundred and forty or fifty difi"erent types of sandy loam soils. To which 

 one of these is his variety adapted? Most frequently we find the new 

 variety best suited to a loam, but we have seventy-five or more distinct 

 loams. You thus see that the amount of good the agricultural scientists, 

 especially the agronomists, can confer on the public bears a direct ratio 

 to the amount of his knowledge of the location, extent, and general 

 characteristics of the type of soil with which he is dealing. 



His discovery is of interest only to science and too often has nothing 

 of value to the practical plant grower. !N'ot only so, but the seedsmen 

 are likely to get hold of his plant novelties and scatter them all over the 

 country, thus doing an injustice to the man who desires help. 



Returning briefly to the work of our experiment stations and others, 

 the Kansas Experiment Station found two native grown varieties of corn 

 (not the highly selected seed) to be often more hardy, better producers, 

 and better adapted to the soil of the station (Oswego silt loam) than 

 even the best and purest improved varieties. In this experiment the 

 director of the station concludes, "There is no question but that there is 

 a great difference in varieties of corn in their adaptation to different 

 soils and climates." 



In its experiments with oats this station concludes : "The strain of 

 red Texas oats which has given the largest yield for the last two seasons, 

 '05-'06, has been grown at the station for four years and has seemed to 

 improve rather than deteriorate in quality and yield." This shows some 

 of the possibilities of a plant that has perfect correspondence with its 

 environment or is perfectly adapted to the soil and climate in which it 

 grows. 



The Indiana Experiment Station finds after testing a number of 

 varieties of wheat that "standard varieties have maintained their yield 

 and quality on the same soil for fifteen years and most of the new 

 varieties have, as a rule, failed to do so well as the standard varieties 

 which have long been grown here." 



