148 



is not always possible to do that. That is particularly true iu the South, 

 where I have done most of my work, having been called there more often. In 

 the South they have not been able to develop cattle farming. They have been 

 farming longer than you have in Ohio or Illinois, and they have worn their 

 lands out seriously. They have turned to ai)parently the only source of fer- 

 tility they have, namely, commercial fertilizers, and have made very large use 

 of them. Some of the States spend as much as 10 per cent of their crop values 

 for commercial fertilizers. The continued use of these materials without barn- 

 yard manure has left very large areas of the South with an extremely bad 

 condition of the soil ; all over the Piedmont region it has become necessary to 

 terrace the land. A great deal of the farming there is done on stair steps; 

 tiiey are compelled to terrace, otherwise the soil will wash away. It has been 

 demonstrated by the experience of some farmers that, even on hilly land, with 

 an abundant supply of humus in the soil, this washing may be prevented. 

 Harnyiird manure is not available and can not be made available to the average 

 farmer in that section at the i)resent time. The other means of developing 

 humus in the soil is green-manure crops. Now, I should like to see these crops 

 studied more than has been done. It is true that some of the stations have 

 carried on interesting experiments and obtained interesting results, but I find 

 myself unable to answer very many of the questions that come up every day 

 fi-om farmers. One of the things that need to be done is to give more atten- 

 tion to fitting green-manure crops into cropping systems. I find in most of the 

 Southern States rye, vetch, crimson clover, and so on fit beautifully, on paper, 

 into almost any cropping system you can arrange. You can sow any of those 

 crops in cotton just after the first picking, and turn them xmder the next year 

 for corn, at least theoretically. I am anxious to know more about such crops, 

 their effect on the soil, and on the crops which follow them. It seems there 

 are certain crops which you do not dare to plant after plowing under a heavy 

 green crop. Wheat, for instance, does not do well after plowing under a big 

 crop of cowpeas. It seems to do better if you harvest the cowpeas and plow 

 under only the stubble. The same is true of fall-sown oats. On the other 

 hand, it appears that corn is not very particular about acid in the soil, and 

 potatoes especially appear to do well after turning under a heavy green growth. 

 We want more information about how to grow these crops. Frequently, when 

 we try to grow them they fail. The farmer wants to know how to make them 

 succeed. 



I merely take this opportunity of calling the attention of investigators to 

 this problem, in the hope that some of them will take my view of its importance 

 and give more attention to it than has been given in the past. 



At 5.30 o'clock p. m. the section adjourned until 2 o'clock p. m. next day. 

 November 1.5, 1905. 



Afternoon Session, Wednesday, November 15, 1905. 



The section was called to order at 2 o'clock p. m., by the chairman, H. J. 

 Patterson, of Maryland. 



Unification of Terms Used in Chemical Analysis. 



C. G. Hopkins, of Illinois. It may be remembered that at the last annual meet- 

 ing a conunittee was appointed on the unification of terms to be used in report- 

 ing results of chemical analysis, and I would state that a similar committee 

 was also api)ointed l>y the Association (if Ollicial Agricultural Chemists. Both 

 of these committees have under consideration the gener;il snl)ject. and the com- 

 mittee for the chemists' association has prepared and had printed by the Bureau 



