EXHAUSTION OF THE SOH. A>"D FERTILIZATION OF THE CROP. 451 



much, if any, beyond I63 jjer cent, and vet it is beyond question 

 true that at no distant period it will be necessary to resort to fertil- 

 izers to maintain the fertility of our lands, as has been so largely done 

 in the Eastern States. 



It was in view of these considerations that the present chapter was 

 Avritten, which, at its conclusion, refei"s to another method by which 

 this exhaustion of the soil could be arrested. It is nardly necessary 

 to say that it was by the introduction of the growth of sorghum in- 

 stead of corn, by the feeding of the seed of sorghum upon the farm, 

 aud by the production of our sugar supply from the stalks, that this 

 exhaustion was to be permanently arrested. 



In view of our rapidly increasing population, and in consideration of 

 the fact that the land available f 'r purposes of agriculture will be oc- 

 pied within a very short period, as also that the exportation of our ag- 

 ricultural products, especially of the cereals, already enormous in the 

 aggiegate, is steadily increasing, the subject of the maintenance of the 

 fertility of our farming lands is one of supreme material im[ ortance. 



The question whether the past and present productiveness of our soil 

 is to continue indefinitely, or whether sooner or later, through exhaus- 

 tion of its elements of fertility, diminished crops shall result, is one 

 which ordinary prudence should not postpone f r future consideration. 



It may, perhaps, be doubted whether as yet we possess sufficient data 

 from the records of our own experience, and in our own countri*, to 

 enable us to decide this important question ; still, we have the ac- 

 cumulated experience of other countiies and other ages to guide us as 

 to the probable s )lution of our own problem. 



While up( u limited areas of laud tiie fact of exhaustion apjiears to 

 be pretty well established, it is a matter of some considerable diffi- 

 cultv to establisli the fiict that exhaustion, more or less in degree, has 

 manifested itself over the whole country. The productiveness of the 

 soil depends upon so many and so varying conditions other than the 

 simple question of a sufficient supply ()f plant food, that any conclu- 

 sions drawn from the returns, of a few years even, are liable to error. 

 For example, as we have heard repeatedly reiterated during the past 

 few years, the country has for several years been blessed with almost 

 unprecedented crops, which it would be folly to expect are to be con- 

 tinued in equal abundance during the next decade. As may be seen 

 bv any one looking over the agricultural statistics, there appear to be 

 " off years" for certain crops, so that, while the conditions are favor- 

 able to some crops, they are not favorable to others. 



Again, since the demand upon the soil for plant food varies both 

 qualitatively and quantitatively so widely for different crops, while the 



