A LIVING FROM THE LAND 



be secured if the drain is laid directly in the area 

 of extreme wetness or if it does not cut off the 

 flow of water before it reaches the area that is 

 consistently too wet for plant growth. 



From what has been said in this brief de- 

 scription of soil treatment and soil improvement, 

 it is evident that one must live with his soil 

 for some time in order to understand it and to 

 be able intelligently to correct its deficiencies, 

 overcome its weaknesses and make it capable 

 of supporting plants which are desirable from 

 the owner's point of view. In the great majority 

 of cases, the improvement process, while a 

 slow one, is far from hopeless and almost any 

 soil that is not extremely sandy or clayey 

 can be so intelligently treated as to make it 

 productive. 



Cultivation. Any discussion of soil treatment 

 is not complete without mention of cultivation. 

 Intelligent cultivation is an essential factor in 

 securing adequate crops. It is interesting to 

 recall that the word "manure," which has come 

 to mean fertilization or fertilizer, is derived 

 from the Latin word "manus" meaning "hand" 

 and implying "manipulation" of the soil, which 

 we now call cultivation. Cultivation has been 

 most frequently practiced as a method of 

 destroying weeds, thereby making all of the 

 available plant food subject to absorption by 



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