CAMPBELL'S SBIL CULTURE MANUAL 99 



CHAPTER XII. 



SOIL FERTILITY. 



That which every farmer tries to do is to cause his 

 land to bring forth good crops. All his labor leads up 

 to the harvest time. His whole reckoning is prelimi- 

 nary to market results. 



So it is that when the farmer or the home seeker goes 

 out to consider whether he shall buy a given tract of 

 land, the question that is uppermost in his mind relates 

 to the crop producing qualities of the soil. Everyone 

 knows that some soils are better than others and that 

 there are soils which seemingly are not of any use at all 

 in crop production. Then it is also fairly well known 

 that land cultivated in the best possible manner may be- 

 come better with the years, while land poorly cared for 

 may rapidly lose what little value it had in its wild state. 



The ordinary or average tiller of the soil has very little 

 knowledge of the scientific principles which are involved 

 in this distinction. It is not surprising, either, for as a 

 matter of fact, those who have made a specialty of the 

 scientific study of soils, who have spent much time and 

 money in experimental work, and who have been able 

 to collect the information brought out by hundreds of 

 others who have gone before these specialists are not at 

 all agreed as to very many of the essential points in regard 

 to the soil. The best of these are quite prepared to mod- 

 ify their views at any time. 



With the scientific investigations we have little con- 

 cern. It is with results that we have to deal. 



