SOILS AND FERTILIZERS 307 



The work of the farmer and stock breeder in improving cul- 

 tivated plants and domesticated animals is simply a continuation 

 of the process of improvement carried on by nature before man 

 existed, and for a long period after his advent, and before he had 

 developed in the scale of intelligence to the point where he began 

 to recognize the benefit to himself that would result from taking ad- 

 vantage of the forces of nature to shape animals and plants to his 

 rapidly increasing needs and wants. 



Individual farmers fail, and individual farms run down through 

 neglect, lack of intelligent cultivation, and a lack of knowledge as 

 to soil adaptation and methods of control. In many cases the 

 cause of failure on the farm is due to individual neglect or mis- 

 management. This is a condition which can be improved, either 

 through the force of necessity as has been the case in Europe, or 

 through education. This is the age of science, but science means 

 knowledge, and knowledge must be intelligently applied. Its in- 

 telligent application marks the difference between success and fail- 

 ure on the farm. 



We may have light sufficient for a 200-bushel crop of corn, 

 heat sufficient for a 200-bushel crop, and abundant rainfall for a 

 200-bushel crop, and yet the soil, the home of the plant, may be 

 so hard and compact and impervious to plant roots, so non-absorb- 

 ent and non-retentive of moisture as to limit the yield to 20 bushels 

 an acre, even with good seed and abundance of plant food; or the 

 soil may be in perfect physical condition, furnishing the plants an 

 ideal lodging place, with light, heat, and moisture provided in 

 abundance for a 200-bushel crop, and yet the supply of plant food, 

 Qven of one element of plant food, may be so limited as to hold 

 down the crop yield to 20 bushels an acre. 



On some farms there are several different types of soil, and 

 to be successful the farmer must make himself thoroughly ac- 

 quainted with the special characteristics of each type. Such knowl- 

 edge may make a great difference in the result of his farming. A 

 farmer prepares his seed bed, plants his seed, carefully cultivates 

 the plants, and gets no return. The failure is not owing to any 

 neglect or care on his part, nor is it due to climatic conditions; but 

 it is due to the fact that he failed to possess a knowledge of the 

 characteristics of his soil. 



The farmer should know the chemical and mechanical differ- 

 ence between light and heavy soils. The term light as applied to 

 soils does not indicate that the soil is deficient in plant food, but 

 that it is of such a texture as to be more easily worked than the 

 soils known as heavy. Light soils are better adapted to the grow- 

 ing of some plants than to the growing of others. The farmer 

 must know that soils of certain colors are better adapted to some 

 crops than soils of another. (Y. B. 1903, 1909; U. of 111 B. 82; 

 U. of 111. B. 124; B. of Soils, B. 55.) 



What Is Soil? Soil is of three parts one solid, another fluid, 

 and the third gaseous. The solid part consists of mineral and or- 

 ganic matter in fragmentary or granular condition; it forms the 



