PART III 



SOILS AND FERTILIZERS. 



SOILS AND THEIR IMPROVEMENT. 



m Jj THAT the Farmer Should Know. It is as important that 



mA/ the farmer should have a thorough knowledge of the char- 



W r acteristics of the soil of his farm as it is to know how to 



plant and to reap; to know his horses and his cattle, his 



machinery and the mechanism of his automobile. He should know 



the chemical qualities of his soil; its capacity to produce, to retain 



moisture, its absorbent qualities, and its heat transference. He should 



also know what elements of plant food each crop takes away from 



the soil. 



Every practical farmer should know something of the me- 

 chanical characteristics of different types of soil, and particularly 

 of those with which he has to deal on his own farm. If he can have 

 made for him, by some competent person, mechanical analyses of 

 the various types of soils with which he has become acquainted 

 through practical experience and observation, he will be able to see 

 the causes of some of the productive peculiarities of these soils that 

 he has already observed but can not explain, and in many other 

 ways the knowledge gained from these analyses will be of value. 

 For a practical farmer to undertake to become an expert soil analyst 

 is, however, a waste of time. 



The first lesson the farmer should learn is that we have a great 

 variety of soil types (700 having already been classified), and that 

 each one of these types has its own peculiarities, its own charac- 

 teristics, and its own special adaptation to crops, rotation schemes, 

 and methods of soil control. This is the great fundamental fact 

 which the farmer must understand. The first step in agricultural 

 development is a knowledge of the particular soil characteristics of 

 his farm. 



The idea has prevailed in the past that through the use of 

 commercial fertilizers and intelligent control all soils can be made 

 to produce at will any crop that it is desired to grow. From a sci- 

 entific standpoint this may be possible, but it can not be done at a 

 profit. There are soils that can not be adopted commercially to 

 wheat production, to fruit culture, and to any of the staple crops, 

 and should remain as forest soils. The highest development of 

 agricultural production will result from the adaptation of each 

 type of soil to a particular line of crops, bearing in mind at all 

 times the market requirements and the transportation facilities. 



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