3G 



THE INFLUENCE OF SOIL YARIATION ON CEOP 

 PRODUCTION.' 



H. J. WILDER, BUREAU OF SOILS, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF 

 AGRICULTURE. 



The influence of soil variation on crop production is best 

 illustrated perhaps, by the development of special crops in 

 different sections of the country. In many cases the highest 

 development of such crops has taken place under a definite 

 and restricted range of soil conditions. We are inclined to 

 look at special crop districts already developed as examples 

 of agricultural adaptation that were bound to appear in the 

 natural course of events. We are also inclined to forget the 

 many individuals who have fallen by the wayside in helping 

 to develop such districts. Yet it is exceedingly doubtful if 

 any section or locality in this country has earned a reputa- 

 tion for producing some crop well without having its course 

 to that success marked by many failures of the individual 

 farmer. There was a first man, for instance, to make some 

 money in growing tobacco in the Connecticut valley. His 

 neighbors followed him. The kinds of soil upon which they 

 tried this crop were diverse, and the quality of the tobacco 

 equally so. Hence the prices received yielded a profit or 

 a loss, as the case might be. The use of commercial fer- 

 tilizers was begun, and in the keen struggle to successfully 

 produce this crop, which promised high profits when well 

 grown, every kind of fertilizer offered for sale was tried. 

 Perhaps it is not stating the case too strongly to say that for 

 a time it was felt that if just the right fertilizer could be 

 secured we should have the magical key to more universal 

 success and profit. Where the soil conditions and the care 

 given the crop were favorable the use of commercial fer- 



^ Agricidture of Massachusetts, 1911. 



