344 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



A satisfactory solution of this problem for most men at least 

 will be found only in a different system of farming, although just 

 what this system shall be no one but the farmer himself can de- 

 termine. One thing is certain, the young man who goes on a quar- 

 ter section today with the idea of paying for it, must put more 

 thought into his business and must give greater attention to im- 

 proved methods of handling his soil and crops than his father did 

 before him. 



The Experiment Station has long felt that condition like these 

 would come and that ultimately its work must reach out to other 

 soils and other regions than those common to the location at Co- 

 lumbia, in order to give the farmer all the help possible in meeting 

 these new conditions. It has recognized the fact that if the far- 

 mers are to receive the greatest benefit from its soil investigations 

 they must be made to cover not simply a single soil or region but 

 ultimately every soil and section of the State. Just how this work 

 could best be carried out with the funds and help available has been 

 the problem. 



A beginning was made in 1905 when the Legislature of that 

 year appropriated a small sum of money for what was termed a 

 "soil survey" of the State, the avowed object being not only to out- 

 line in a more or less definite manner the important soil types as 

 they exist, but to carry forward such investigations on each of 

 these types as would be of most benefit to the farmers concerned. 

 As a result, four soil experimental fields were laid out that sea- 

 son, two in North Missouri and two in South Missouri, the plan 

 in each case being to determine not only the most immediately re- 

 munerative system of fertilization and cropping, but also the sys- 

 tem which promised most as a permanent practice. During the 

 seasons of 1906 and 1907 the number of these experimental fields 

 has been gradually increased until 17 are now in operation. It is 

 some of the results of these experiments that I wish to lay before 

 you. 



THE COMPOSITION OF PROMINENT MISSOURI SOILS. 



There are seven mineral elements which plants require for 

 their growth, and which must be obtained from the soil. These 

 are nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron 

 and sulphur. Fortunately for the farmer, however, only the first 

 three of these, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are commonly 

 lacking in our soils. The others, with the occasional exceptance of 

 calcium (lime) are found in abundant quantities in all soils. Con- 



