358 State Horticultural Society. 



Lands cease to be productive because tbeir CdiUenl of plant r<Hul in a 

 soluble form lias been reduced, and they can readily be reclaimed by the 

 application of a sufficient amount of vegetable matter to decompose the 

 insoluble ])lant food fast enough for the needs of the crops. And it 

 is certainl}' far more economical to cultivate and grow fertility than to 

 purchase it, and not only is this kind of fertility more economical, but it 

 is far more lasting in its effects. Very frequently the decline in i)ro- 

 ductive power may be due as much to the lessened capacity of the soil to 

 retain moisture as to a reduction of soluble plant food, without the aid of 

 which the richest soil in the world has no crop producing power. — Orange 

 Judd Farmer. 



WHY WE SHOULD STUDY THE SOIL. 



In the State of Indiana we have a large variety of soils, which vary 

 in structure all the way from the stiff clays to the black muck soils, and 

 in order to properly understand the structure of these soils we must 

 know something of their origin and make-up. Of course, there are but 

 two primary kinds of soils, viz. : those which are formed in place, that is, 

 from the underlying rocks ; and those which have been deposited by the 

 action of water and other agencies. Soils which have been formed in 

 place are most likely to become exhausted first. They may contain a 

 large amount of s'ome single element necessary to plant growth and but 

 a small amount of some other element just as necessary. This difficulty 

 is usually avoided in case of the transported or mixed soils. Some of 

 the tough clays, however, which have been formed in place, are very 

 lasting, due largely to the fact that they are very slow to give up the 

 elements of their composition. The plant food is yielded slowly, thereby 

 preserving in large measure the soil fertility, but yielding smaller re- 

 turns per acre per year. The soil of Indiana for the most part are what 

 are known as "drift soils," those that have been formed by the action of 

 glaciers. Of course, since that period of formation large deposits of 

 vegetable matter have been made, thus forming our muck soils. In other 

 places we have soils which for the most part are formed from the under- 

 lying layers of rock — for example, our limestone soils. Keeping in mind 

 then the facts that we have soils which are made up of gravel, vegetable 

 matter, clay and sand in varying proportions, it is readily noticeable that 

 they cannot all be treated alike and produce results satisfactory to their 

 owners. We should keep in mind the fact that not all soils are affected 

 in the same way by the passage of water through them, and the further 

 fact that not all soils allow water to percolate through them at the same 



