THE WHEAT CULTUKIST. 167 



ing the roots, hoping thus to obtain a plant which would 

 resist wind and rain, and have stiffer straw. The effort 

 met with little success. "At one time," he says of 

 other experiments, " I was in hopes that we might by 

 some chemical compounds increase the strength of the 

 straw ; but I have been entirely unsuccessful, and do not 

 anticipate there is much to be done by other experi- 

 menters." In regard to thin seeding for this purpose, 

 he says that by keeping the plants further apart, so as 

 to admit more light, a stronger stem may be obtained, 

 but at the expense of increased labor in weeding, and, 

 generally, a decrease in the quality of the grain. 



WHAT THE SOIL REQUIRES. 



It is safe to assume, at the outset, that the atmosphere 

 is all right. Our finite minds cannot conceive how any 

 improvement may be made in the chemical constituents 

 of the atmosphere, for the purposes of vegetation. With 

 all our knowledge of chemistry, we are not able to effect 

 any change in the atmosphere, that will be of any prac- 

 tical advantage, or injury, to growing crops. But we 

 can modify the soil. By adding certain substances to it, 

 the most barren earth and unproductive soil can be 

 rendered exceedingly fertile and capable of producing 

 beautiful crops. The inexhaustible quantity of plant 

 food floating in the atmosphere is ever in an available 

 condition for promoting the growth and development 

 of plants. In respect to availability of plant food, there 

 is a marked difference between the plant food in the air 

 and the vegetable nutrition that is locked up in the soil. 

 The plant food in the atmosphere is sure to nourish the 

 growing plants, whenever the tender leaves open their 



