6o 



THE ESSENTIALS OF AGRICULTURE 



62. Soil texture as related to crop growth. The reasons 

 for the success of certain crops on certain soils are not yet 

 fully understood. The soil texture, however, is one of the 

 most important factors determining crop adaptation. Truck 

 crops are especially adapted to sandy loam soils, as potatoes, 

 melons, and peanuts. Fruit trees require a deep, well-aired 

 soil. Corn is better adapted to a loam soil. Small grains, 

 such as wheat, oats, and barley, as well as some of the most 



FIG. 31. Soil in good physical condition 



important grasses, as timothy and blue grass, are usually better 

 adapted to fertile clay loams or silt loams. The fact that crops 

 are best adapted to certain soils does not mean that they cannot 

 be grown on other soils ; but where the conditions are not en- 

 tirely satisfactory, a plant must usually be modified to suit the 

 soil, or the soil modified to suit the plant before the best results 

 can be obtained. On the average farm it is usually necessary to 

 grow a variety of crops, but it is a part of the farmer's business to 

 select crops which can be produced with the greatest net return 



