October 17, 1908 



HORTICULTURE 



ll 



THE ADAPTATION OF SOIL TO 

 VARIETIES AND ITS AP- 

 PLICATION TO INDOOR 

 CULTIVATION. 



A Pnper Head Before the American Itose 



Society at Chicago, by Gustavus 



B. Uaynadier. 



The whole work of the Department 

 of Agriculture is apportioned, accord- 

 ing to the character of the problem, 

 among the various bureaus of which 

 the Department is made up, one of 

 these being the Bureau of Soils. 



This Bureau has allotted to it the 

 duty of surveying and mapping the 

 soils of I he United States and of mak- 

 ing all investigations concerning them. 

 The problems with which it deals are 

 by no means the simple affairs that 

 many who fail to appreciate what the 

 soil is, what it does and how it does 

 it are inclined to think. To them the 

 soil is so much dirt. It is to them a 

 lifeless, inert mass. It is necessary, to 

 be sure, and therefore to be tolerated. 

 We who take a deepsr interest, how- 

 ever, know the soil as it really is. 

 Whether we are accustomed to study 

 it in the laboratory or to use it in the 

 field, the garden, or the greenhouse, we 

 know that far from being just so much 

 dirt it is a highly complex body; far 

 from being an inert, lifeless mass, it is 

 most emphatically a thing of life. For 

 every living thing, bush, tree or shrub, 

 that we see upon its surface, myriads 

 exist within the soil itself. One of the 

 duties of this bureau is to study these 

 soil organisms and to find out what 

 functions they perform. 

 Composition and Causes of Infertility. 



Soils also vary in composition, and 

 there may be present substances ac- 

 tually harmful to plants, or some of 

 the essentials for plant growth may be 

 wanting, hence they must be studied 

 from the chemical standpoint. Soils 

 possess also certain physical properties 

 sifch as weight, fineness of division, 

 arrangement of particles. They bear 

 certain relations to heat and to mois- 

 ture. In the physical laboratory of 

 this bureau is determined the influence 

 of these attributes upon the soil and 

 their effect upon its productiveness. 



The causes of infertility in certain 

 soils, the restoration of the so-called 

 worn-out soils, the presence of poison- 

 ous substances in the soil as the result 

 of excretion from the roots of living 

 plants, all these demand special lines 

 of investigation, each line being in the 

 hands of specially trained men. 



Following these strictly scientific 

 technical inv< stigations of the soil 

 comes the study of soil utilization and 

 management. This comprises the ap- 

 plication of these laboratory results to 

 conditions as they exist, dealing with 

 problems of drainage, methods of till- 

 age, the effect of fertilizers and special 

 adaptation of soils to certain crops. 

 For you may rest assured that field 

 operations must be based on correct 

 scientific principles or they will be of 

 no avail. However frequently existing 



A DREER DECORATION. 



The accompanying illustration shows 

 the decorations of the Chestnut street 

 establishment of H. A. Dreer during 

 the celebration of Founders' Week in 

 Philadelphia. The windows were in- 

 teresting to many strangers on their 

 way down Chestnut street to visit In- 

 dependence Hall and other places of 

 historic interest in which this neigh- 

 borhood abounds. 



The colors used in these decoiations 

 were blue and gold, which are the citv 

 colors, and in the floral window hardy 

 larkspur was used for blue and yellow 

 dahlias for gold, tastefully arrange.! 

 so that each color would show distinct- 



ly. The vegetable window displayed 

 both pumpkins and squashes of golden 

 yellow and dark green (the nearest to 

 blue obtainable). Many very large and 

 heavy specimens were used, each 

 tagged showing weight, and this fea- 

 ture proved very interesting to the 

 many persons who stopped to look at 

 the display. A large show card paint- 

 ed in blue and gold bore the words, 

 "Some Pumpkins." 



The photograph was taken late at 

 night, with no other light than the 

 ordinary electric light in the windows, 

 and it has been pronounced an excel- 

 lent piece of night photography. 



conditions demand that these princi- 

 ples be modified, yet they can never be 

 disregarded or opposed, or disaster 

 will surely follow. 



Special Fitness for Certain Crops. 



In the work of the Bureau of Soils in 

 the field one of the most striking soil 

 charactei istics observed is the special 

 adaptation or fitness of certain soils 

 for certain classes of crops. That cer- 

 tain classes of soils are peculiarly 

 adapted to the growth and production 

 of certain crops 'has been recognized 

 by agriculturists of all lands, and in 

 the writings of some of the highest 

 authorities on agricultural topics such 

 expressions as good "corn soil" cr 

 "wheat soil" are frequently to be met 

 with. Not only is this adaptation for 

 certain crops observed, but in addition 

 a special adaptation for certain varie- 

 ties of the same crop. While it is no 

 doubt true that there are other factors 

 which perhaps are to be considered in 

 field practice, yet we feel assured from 

 our observations in this direction that 

 no single factor is of as great impor- 

 tance as the soil. 



In regions where uniform soil and 

 climate abound there is frequently to 

 be found one particular variety of a 

 crop that gives far better results than 

 any other variety, though it is agreed 

 on all sides that the soil is a good one- 

 for the crop generally speaking. More- 



over wh?n two sections are situated so 

 as to be embraced within the same 

 clirnatol?£ical zone it frequently hap- 

 pens that the predominating soils are 

 quite different. In such a case it is 

 usually observed that the successful 

 planters upon each soil type are grow- 

 ing the same or closely related varie- 

 ties. There will, however, be found a 

 considerable difference between the 

 varieties grown on the different soil 

 types. Not alone with field crops is 

 this mutual agreement of soils and 

 specific varieties to be observed, but 

 with fruits and with vegetables. 



Some Cases Observed. 



As specific instances I may mention 

 a few of the many cases that have 

 been observed in the field and garden 

 crops, fruits, etc. 



The "Drake Cluster," a very high 

 grade and highly productive variety of 

 cotton, has been grown and kept pure 

 on the upland soils of Alabama, where 

 it is noted for its superior qualities. 

 This variety when grown on the; bot- 

 tom lands produces but little lint, the 

 plant "going to weed," as it is called. 



With some varieties of tobacco it is 

 possible to grow on the sandy soils of 

 certain localities cigar wrappers of the 

 highest quality; when these same va- 

 rieties are grown on the clay soils 

 the product is suitable only for fillers, 

 the quality of which is none too good. 



