A TRIBUTE TO SQUANTO 343 



but one that has been often obtained, and one that can 

 be obtained indefinitely. 



The methods which are employed for securing these 

 yields are well known. They can be easily and gener- 

 ally applied, being changed to suit changed conditions 

 of soil and climate. With intelligence and care, such 

 as the agricultural stations and colleges make possible 

 to every farmer, these full harvests can be generally 

 obtained. Thus, without adding anything to our pres- 

 ent acreage, it is easily possible to increase our wheat 

 yield three-fold. Scientific agriculture to-day may 

 safely undertake the task of feeding 240,000,000 

 Americans, and exporting 150,000,000 bushels of wheat 

 without encroaching upon the area now devoted to any 

 other crop. 



INCREASED YIELD OF CORN. 



But wheat is only a small part of our resources. 

 Indian corn is almost as nutritious as wheat. Its con- 

 tent of protein matter is not gluten, and it does not 

 make light and spongy loaves, but it does make bread, 

 highly nutritious and palatable. The average yield of 

 Indian corn for the past ten years in this country has 

 been 24.2 bushels per acre. 



When I turn to the reports of the Kentucky experi- 

 ment station I find a most striking lesson. We usually 

 think of experiment stations as the helpers of the poor 

 soils, but in the case of Kentucky we find one situated 

 in the heart of the great blue-grass region, one of the 

 most fertile agricultural areas in the world. Chemis- 

 try, however, revealed the fact that this soil was poor 

 in potash. When this cheap fertilizer is applied to the 

 land we see at once the striking effects which the sim- 

 ple application of well-known scientific truths pro- 



