364 MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



In improving a loam soil which is raw and unproductive, put on 

 a light top dressing of well-rotted manure and turn it under about 

 3 or 4 inches deep. Let this stand four weeks to ferment, then turn 

 it over about 2 inches deeper; then plant a crop rye or cowpeas if 

 the soil is very poor. With such treatment the soil will gradually 

 darken throughout, although it may take two or three years to 

 bring it up to a fair state of fertility. The change in condition will 

 be evident to the eye. Each type of soil will, however, require some- 

 what different treatment, and the method of cultivation adapted to 

 one soil will not perhaps be suited to another. Judgment and ex- 

 perience is required in the cultivation of an infertile soil with a view 

 to improving it, even more than in maintaining the fertility of a pro- 

 ductive soil. 



The improvement of an infertile soil or the changing of a 

 raw subsoil into a true soil involves a fermentation of organic mat- 

 ter to produce other and more stable compounds, just as in the fer- 

 mentation of tobacco to produce quality in the leaf, the fermentation 

 of malt, the ripening of cheese and of fruits, and the "raising" of 

 bread. Cigar tobacco will not develop aroma by hanging in a barn 

 in contact with air. It must be put into a bulk, built neither too 

 compactly nor too loosely, and the amount of moisture, temperature, 

 and aeration must be carefully regulated, with respect to the pe- 

 culiar character of the leaf and the purposes for which it is intended, 

 to get the best results. So in the proper fermentation of the organic 

 matter of the soils we must study more the laws and conditions of 

 fermentation, and we must realize that this is greatly aided by 

 enzymes and plant life itself, either by the lower bacterial forms or 

 by the higher forms the crops and even the weeds and other native 

 vegetation. 



After cultivation the most important thing is the selection of 

 the proper crop, even of the proper variety of any particular crop 

 and the proper rotation of the selected varieties. This will undoubt- 

 edly aid in improving the soil, and more often still it will prevent 

 soil deterioration. No exact or thoroughly satisfactory system of 

 crop rotation has yet been worked out for any particular soil. After 

 cultivation and rotation, fertilization is an important and powerful 

 factor in soil improvement. We have then, proper drainage, culti- 

 vation, aeration, rotation, and fertilization, all acting to the same 

 end, namely, the maintenance of sanitary conditions in the soil to 

 increase the productivity of worn-out lands. (F. Bs. 87, 245, 257, 

 406; Y. B. 1909; Cornell R. C. Soils Series 5; Bu. of Soils B. 55; 

 Purdue Univ. Bs. 57, 95; Clemson Col. B. 32; Univ. Wis. B. 139; 

 Univ. Wyo. B. 82; Colo. Agr. Col. B. 65; Univ. 111. B. 82; Cornell 

 Univ. B. 174; Univ. Mo. B. 38.) 



EFFECT OF ORGANIC MATTER ON SOILS. 



Soils have been variously classified as regards their differing 

 qualities and composition. The following is the classification most 

 generally accepted: 



Sand. Soils consisting almost exclusively of sand. 



