56 INDIAN CORN. 



ditions there is some one mode of spacing better than 

 any other a certain arrangement of distances that 

 will give a larger yield than any other. Let us sup- 

 pose that yield to be two hundred and twenty-five 

 bushels per acre. Then the spacing which gives that 

 product is the best possible, and no deviation from 

 those distances in planting would increase the yield. 

 Here, then, would be a limit of production imposed 

 by the law of distances. 



But let us take another view of the matter. 

 Every soil not absolutely sterile contains, in its nat- 

 ural state, a certain amount of the constituents of In- 

 dian qprn. .In a state . of perfect fertility it would 

 contain the largest possible amount of these, and in 

 the exact condition and proportions required by the 

 growing plants. We do not perhaps know what is 

 the highest point of fruitfulness to which a given soil 

 may be brought. But this is not material. The 

 maximum of fertility is not indispensable for a maxi- 

 mum yield. If the space occupied by the roots of a 

 single stalk contain one and a half ounces of the in- 

 organic elements of corn, in the right condition and 

 proportions, along with a small percentage of the 

 organic constituents,* then such stalk should produce 

 a pound of grain, so far as the yield depends on the 

 prolific character of the soil ; and if an acre of ground 

 contain, in each square foot, one-half the above quan- 

 tity of corn elements, then the capacity of such acre 



* These being mainly derived from the atmosphere, and from de- 

 scending rains, their presence in the soil is not required in the same 

 proportions as the other class of elements. 



