TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. m 



pounds of dry matter and an acre of apple trees 30 years old 

 8,200 pounds. If we take Hall's statement" that a crop evap- 

 orates about 300 pounds of water for every pound of dry 

 matter, it would appear that apple and peach trees may take 

 from the soil 800 to 1,200 tons of water per year. This, at 

 best, is only a rough approximation, of course, and the actual 

 quantity may be considerably less. 



The point I wish ,to put as clearly as I can is that vast 

 quantities of water, as well as small quantities of mineral 

 matters are essential to the crop^ — one is not more needed 

 than the other — and therefore in talking about fertilizers 

 we are not treating the matter fairly if we only look at what 

 we carry to our orchard in bags and spread from the tail of 

 a cart. 



The more I see of our Connecticut soil and climate, the 

 surer I am that soil water, oftener than so-called plant food, 

 determines the size of our crops. We come pretty near being 

 a semi-arid region in a cycle of dry years such as we have 

 had to begin a new century. Our "summer pasture'' is usual- 

 ly almost a myth because of drought. The crops on fields 

 which have become stripped of humus because of bad rota- 

 tions or no rotations are almost a failure, even when "well 

 fertilized," and all for lack of water; while fields where 

 clover comes in rotation and manure is freely used, and be- 

 cause of their use the soil has abundant humus, yield fairly 

 satisfactory returns, even in dry summers, and heavy crops 

 increased by using commercial fertilizers in summers when 

 rain is fairly abundant and fairly frequent. 



It is futile to object that we have to depend on the Lord 

 for a water supply in any other sense than we depend on 

 Him for our daily bread. We have got to get out' and hustle 

 for either of them. Protracted drought, of course, will shorten 

 crops on an)- farm, but green manuring, proper rotation and 

 thorough tillage will very greatly reduce the damage from 

 severe drought and increase crops even in those years which 

 only have an occasional "dry spell" ; for even a temporary 



" Hall. The Soil, p. 108. 



