Progressive Agriculture 21 



made the most noise over the widened scope of 

 country and have given opportunity for doubters 

 to declare there is nothing in tillage, no rules can 

 be fixed, no way to succeed in the semi-humid 

 country, and that "it won't work in drouthy 

 years". The trouble is that they may have tried 

 to apply the principles without trying to under- 

 stand them. They have sought merely to do what 

 they have supposed was necessary without really 

 knowing why, then followed the disappointment. 

 This fact should be realized at the outset, that 

 farming is one art where it may not be possible 

 to lay down any hard mechanical rules that will 

 fit every case; for example, a moist soil may be 

 plowed 6 to 7 inches deep and with timely tillage 

 be immediately worked into a perfect seed bed, 

 while the same soil when wet or dry cannot. 

 Many have tried the latter and failed without 

 realizing that the mistake in their own work 

 caused the failure. The same rule applies in put- 

 ting the seed into the soil, or in the cultivation of 

 the crop, a different amount of moisture will bring 

 different soil conditions from the same mechanical 

 work. Conditions change climate, soil, eleva- 

 tion, water, winds, etc. But certain general prin- 

 ciples can be stated that will help the farmer to 

 meet all the changing conditions, just the same as 

 the correct principles were worked out to build a 

 successful flying machine. This means simply 

 the correct application of true or scientific prin- 

 ciples to agriculture. That doesn't mean any- 

 thing hard to understand, or for the use of college 

 professors alone; not at all, for science may be 



