IDEAL FERTILIZERS 19 



Conservation of Soil 



While every effort should be made to induce bacterial 

 and chemical activity because of the effects upon the 

 general condition of the soil it must be remembered that 

 if a plant uses the released plant foods and is taken 

 away, or if the soluble plant foods are lost in the drain- 

 age waters, the land has given up just so much of its 

 resources. The wise manager keeps up or adds to the 

 natural humus content and applies the mineral elements 

 in the form of commercial fertilizers to replace more 

 than the amount used by the plant. He fertilizes his 

 crop, not the soil, giving extra amounts of the essential 

 especially lacking, thus providing certainly available 

 nourishment for his plants and constantly building up 

 a more fertile and better balanced soil. 



In relation to the plant, soil should not be considered 

 as a pasture through which rootlets may pick their way, 

 gathering a morsel here and there, but instead, as a 

 comfortable environment providing shelter and abundant 

 supplies. In relation to its owner, soil should be con- 

 sidered as a bank. It is not how much we can get out 

 of the soil that affects our prosperity, but how much we 

 put in. The better the soil, the better the crops that can 

 be made from it, so the grower should always leave a 

 little more than he takes. The immediate profit should 

 come from the plants, which, if managed right, give us 

 so much for the little they take. In no way is the world 

 noted "American Improvidence" shown more forcibly 

 than in the widespread inattention to soil conservation 

 and upbuilding. 



