CHAPTER III 

 SOILS AND FERTILIZERS 



Fertile soil. — In a general way it is quite freely 

 admitted that a fertile soil must contain certain 

 elements in order to mature crops. These substances 

 are potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, iron 

 sulphate and chlorine. If any of these elements are 

 absent from the soil the crop will not develop prop- 

 erly. These different substances are combined in 

 the soil in a great variety of ways. In just what 

 form they should be combined to insure a bountiful 

 crop of beans is not accurately known, but while it 

 is a common impression that beans will grow on any 

 soil, however poor, the fact remains that if one ex- 

 pects to harvest a profitable crop, reasonably pro- 

 ductive soil must be provided. 



Good bean soil. — The old saying in connection 

 with worn-out land "too poor to grow white beans," 

 has too long given the wrong impression. Soils 

 loaded with organic matter are undesirable for beans 

 because of the tendency of such soil to produce a 

 rank growth of vines, perhaps at the expense of seed 

 production, or at best the beans will ripen unevenly, 

 and will be more subject to fungous diseases. All 

 leguminous plants do well on limestone soils and 

 beans are no exception to the rule. Professor Stone 

 says* rather heavy clay loams if well drained, or 

 gravelly loams if there is considerable fine silt and 

 humus among the gravel, and if they are made rich, 

 will grow profitable crops of beans. Heavy clay 



*X T Cornell Exper Sta, Bui 210. 



13 



