86 CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 



the year 1900, increasing the certainty and magnitude of 

 these yields as we learned more of the correct principles 

 in detail. 



CLIMATE NOT RESPONSIBLE. 



It is altogether too common an idea that the quantity 

 and quality of the crop depends upon climatic conditions. 

 This does not apply to the semi-arid belt. The success 

 of the farmer depends entirely upon the quantity and 

 quality of the grains and vegetables he raises. Under the 

 ordinary plan of farming the expense of preparing, plant- 

 ing and cultivating is just the same whether we get fifty 

 bushels of corn or five bushels or none at all. If we pro- 

 ceed properly the necessary labor may be fifty per cent 

 more, but even if it were double and we succeed in getting 

 thirty to sixty bushels of wheat in seasons when our 

 neighbors under ordinary conditions get five or ten, does 

 it pay? If we are able to get eighty bushels of corn when 

 our neighbor gets thirty, does it pay? 



By holding the moisture near the surface during the 

 heated portions of the season we succeed in securing a 

 more complete decomposition of the vegetable matter in 

 our soil, passing it on to the stage known as humus, which 

 is a most valuable element in the soil. The more humus 

 we have the greater amount of moisture we can hold in 

 the ground. This, coupled with the amount of moisture 

 that we are able to store, and the improvement of the 

 physical condition of the soil by the disking, plowing and 

 frequent cultivation in our summer culture, brings about 

 four conditions By the very fine, compact condition, 

 our soil will hold more water, consequently our plant is 

 less liable to suffer from a lack of water during extreme 

 heat. This packed condition is also, from the fact of the 

 more minute pores in the soil, favorable to a more rapid 



