266 THE FARMER OF TO-MORROW 



pounds. On the fertilized plat the yield was 

 1,298 pounds. 



Does this establish the fact that the soil 

 itself contained sufficient fertility and that ro- 

 tation of crops without chemicals gave larger 

 returns than extensive fertilization? 



One party to the controversy says that the 

 experiment does not establish this as a con- 

 clusion. They say "Let us see what hap- 

 pened when this land was subjected to other 

 crops, such as turnips or barley." 



We find that this piece of land in rotation 

 did not produce enough turnips to pay for the 

 seed. Also the barley was low in yield. Thus, 

 in spite of the fact that this plot was suf- 

 ficiently rich to grow 28% bushels of wheat 

 every four years, it was not able to grow tur- 

 nips or barley profitably. 



This objection is immediately answered by 

 quoting from Sir John Lawes himself. He 

 discovered, after the experiment had been 

 under way several years, that the physical 

 texture of the soil was not suited to produce 

 either turnips or barley, no matter how rich 

 it might prove to be in minerals. The soil was 

 too heavy to grow either of these crops profit- 

 ably. 



