246 THE LURE OF THE LAND 



which they held in solution are solidified and deposited. 



That soil is fertile in which there are sufficient quan- 

 tities of plant foods to properly saturate the soil par- 

 ticles, and thus permit of the translation of the inor- 

 ganic constituents of the particles of water to the living 

 fluids of the plant and their elaboration into new forms 

 of growth. The maximum fertility of the soil, other 

 things being equal, will be found in such a distribution 

 of the water content as to maintain always a normal 

 saturation of the water particles with the soluble con- 

 stituents of the soil. I mean by normal, that quantity 

 which will afford the rootlets of the plant the maximum 

 of food which they demand. In the growing crop, 

 therefore, damage is produced whenever the quantity 

 of soluble materials in the soil, due to the amount of 

 water present, is too small, as in the case of drought, or 

 too large, as in the case of flood, to properly nourish the 

 plant. 



We have this year seen a remarkable illustration of 

 the mass action of seasonal factors in the production 

 of a record-breaking crop. The data which are avail- 

 able at the time of this writing, end of June, 1914, 

 seem to indicate the greatest yield of wheat, both in 

 actual quantity and in amount per acre, that this coun- 

 try has ever known. This increased production can- 

 not be in any way attributed to an increased fertility 

 of the soil. In point of fact, as has before been pointed 

 out, the soil fertility is probably decreasing as a whole, 

 instead of increasing, in the country at large. 



RESPECTIVE WEIGHTS OF WATER AND CROP. 



The only other factor which can be considered is the 

 season itself. That means the amount of rainfall, its 

 distribution, the quantity of heat registered from the 



