WHAT IS BECOMING OF OUR SOILS? 217 



definitely settled by experiments or by the experiences 

 of farmers." 



Thus, by the removal of crops for which no restitu- 

 tion has been made, by the leaching of the soil and 

 dissolving the soluble salts therefrom, and by the ero- 

 sion and translation of the soil into localities where it 

 can no longer be reached by the plow, millions of acres 

 of once fertile soil have been reduced to a pitiable 

 degree of poverty. As long as new land was available 

 to the American farmer, he gave little attention to the 

 problem of conserving soil fertility and the various 

 means of restoring it. It was far cheaper for him to 

 abandon his worn-out fields and journey to new regions 

 where the land was still virgin and contained all the 

 accumulated fertility of the ages. 



THE: NEGLECT AND INDIFFERENCE OF THE FARMER. 



Fortunately for American agriculture that day has 

 passed, and we now are face to face with the problem 

 of increasing soil fertility since there is no great pos- 

 sibility of increasing the area of arable land. What 

 are the means by which this restoration can be made? 

 They are perfectly simple. First of all, stop the 

 sources of depletion. Feed your field at least as much 

 as you take from it. Second, stop the useless leaching. 

 This can be done by proper cover crops and deep plow- 

 ing, which will hold the soil water and prevent it from 

 leaching. Third, stop erosion. This is largely a me- 

 chanical process at first, but must be supplemented by 

 a series of grasses or reforestations, which will pro- 

 tect from further waste. 



It was my good fortune to be active in a practical 

 application of some of these principles while still a 

 young man, and before the ideas of scientific agricul- 



