344 THE LURE OF THE LAND 



duces. The year 1889 was one in which the climatic 

 conditions were well suited to the production of Indian 

 corn. In that year the yield on the Kentucky experi- 

 ment station, on land to which no fertilizer was applied, 

 was 31 bushels per acre. The yield on a portion of 

 the same field which received muriate of potash at the 

 rate of 160 pounds, and nitrate of soda at the rate of 

 160 pounds per acre, was 87 bushels. Thus, by the 

 application of 320 pounds of fertilizing material per 

 acre, half of which was obtained at a very low price, the 

 yield of Indian corn was more than doubled. This 

 illustration, it is true, represents an extreme case, that 

 is, one in which the climatic conditions were especially 

 favorable. 1 But one of the great triumphs of scientific 

 agriculture in the future will be found in the more 

 practical control of climatic conditions than is at pres- 

 ent secured. We will be able, on the one hand, to con- 

 serve the natural moisture so that the effects of dry sea- 

 sons in diminishing a crop will be reduced to the mini- 

 mum. On the other hand, we will be able to so control 

 large excesses of precipitation that the sinister effects 

 of an excessively wet season will likewise be reduced 

 to a minimum. 



In respect of temperature, there is little reason to 

 fear, inasmuch as the average mean temperature of the 

 growing season does not vary greatly in any period of 

 years. 



THESE IS MOKE THAN GBAIN IN INDIAN COBN. 



We have spoken only of the grain of Indian corn, 

 and in this is not included more than half of the true 



i In recent years a few boys in corn clubs of the country have 

 attained officially certified yields of over 200 bushels of Indian 

 Corn per acre. 



