280 State Boaku ov Agiucui>ture, &c. 



exceptions. In general l)y the ordinary cropping soils 

 diminish in their yield and in a comparatively short time the 

 condition is reached at which cnltivation is no longer renm- 

 nerative and the land is said to be " worn out." 



Fortunately our soils in Vermont are never actually 

 exhausted, though tlicy may for the time have reached the 

 point at which they make no adequate return for the work- 

 ing. The rarer ingredients of a fertile soil so far as they 

 are immediately available have been exhausted. Time will 

 avail for the restoration of the fertility. The original con- 

 stituents are still there in considerable quantities but bound 

 up in the coarser or finer fragments of rock and tlie par- 

 tially decayed vegetable matter forming the soil. Frost, 

 and water, and the atmosphere, by tlie process known as 

 " weathering " will unlock the treasured ingredients and 

 change them to such forms, that dissolved in water they may 

 be appropriated by the roots of plants. 



As stated time will avail to bring back the lost fertility. 

 But with the proper method of cultivation the " worn out " 

 condition of land need never be reached. The soil is to be 

 regarded, not as a bank from which unlimited resources can 

 be drawn, but rather as a manufactory by means of wliich 

 crude materials may be converted into valuable products, 

 and that the amount of converted products will be according 

 to the amount of raw material furnished, and the skill used 

 in the manipulation. 



To maintain constant fertility plant food must be added 

 to the soil as fast as the crops take it away. Farmers in our 

 older states at least are recognizing this fact and are acting 

 upon it by saving and applying such manures as can be col- 



