50 Agriculture and Its Needs 



are some things which common usage shows 

 that many of them do not realize. They 

 should be told of the additions which are 

 needed to restore what has been taken out, 

 or to adapt it to the demands of new situa- 

 tions. They should not have to take this 

 from commercial corporations that are sel- 

 ling fertilizers. They should not go on 

 putting on stuff that contains nitrogen and 

 no phosphorus, when what the ground needs 

 is phosphorus and not nitrogen. They 

 should not go on selling products contain- 

 ing constituents that the soil requires, when 

 they are worth more to keep than to sell. 

 The common belief among farmers, that 

 mere rotation of crops rests and recuperates 

 the soil, is doubtless fallacious beyond the 

 fact that some crops do not deplete soil as 

 rapidly as others do. What has been taken 

 out, what needs to be restored, should be 

 declared by competent authority acting for 



