THE SOIL, THE PLANT, THE ANIMAL 7 



He must aid nature in her efforts to maintain the 

 present supply of plant food, to increase it, and to 

 make unavailable plant food available so as to be 

 assimilable t'o plants. After death of plant or 

 animal the plant food contained in these organic 

 forms is still unusable by plants until decay and 

 decomposition have done their work. In a like 

 manner the soil itself holds locked-up plant food in 



POOR CATTLE OFTEN INDICATE POOR LAND 



If soils have been intelligently tilled and manured they produce good 

 pasture and profitable crops. These in turn furnish appetizing and nutritious 

 feed for the rapid development of farm stock. If the grass is scanty live 

 stock will reflect the condition of the land. 



its storehouses. The farmer's work is to find the 

 key that will unlock this plant food. Shallow plow- 

 ing, removal of organic matter, carelessness in till- 

 age, excessive water, bad bacteria, all unite in mak- 

 ing soils hard, dead and lifeless, and when so made 

 they refuse to release their soil-food possessions, 

 a condition that either prevents plant growth alto- 

 gether; or, if not that severe, in so lessening the 

 vigor as to give a crop of small worth. 



