402 MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



There is a vast difference in the natural fertility of soils. Some 

 do not produce well from the start unless special attention is given 

 to making them productive ; others produce large crops for a short 

 time and then rapidly diminish in fertility; while others known as 

 strong soils remain productive for many years without attention to 

 their fertility. But even the strongest soils will wear out in time 

 unless they are intelligently managed. Plants take from the soil 

 certain elements that are necessary for their growth, and these ele- 

 ments must be returned to the soil in some way. Rotation of crops, 

 the growth of legumes, and the use of some fertilizing material are 

 the three methods in use. Rotation and the growing of legumes 

 help but will not do by themselves. Neither will the use of a fer- 

 tilizer accomplish the desired results without intelligent manage- 

 ment in other respects. 



Weather Conditions. It should always be borne in mind that 

 the success of a crop depends on four other conditions besides that of 

 the fertilizer used to feed it. All farm crops require certain average 

 amounts of heat, light, air, and water in order to develop an average 

 growth, and just the right amount of each for the largest possible 

 yield. 



Thus weather conditions may favor or hinder a crop to such an 

 extent that the fertilizer has apparently no effect, and these facts 

 have led more than one to the conclusion that fertilizers were useless. 



Fertilizers can not make good a lack of sunshine or rain, but 

 they can help the sunshine and rain to do their best ; therefore when 

 the weather is favorable they increase the profits and when it is un- 

 favorable they lessen the losses. 



The condition of the soil in its relation to air and water is of 

 the greatest importance in the profitable use of commercial ferti- 

 lizers. When a soil is too wet, it allows too little air to reach the 

 roots of plants, simply because the water crowds it out. In average 

 seasons some soils are too wet and others are too dry for the follow- 

 ing reasons: A crop of 3 tons of hay or one of 15 tons of silage 

 corn per acre would result in the removal from the soil of about 

 800 tons of water. To supply this water, there would need to be 

 between 7 and 8 inches of rainfall during the growing season of 

 each crop. If this rain were uniformly distributed, it would be 

 fully enough for grass and a little too much for corn. As it is not, 

 both crops need the soil in such condition that it will hold enough 

 water at all times for their needs, while allowing the surplus to 

 drain away. 



On soils of average texture the requisite moisture conditions can 

 be maintained by tillage, and if needed, by drainage on low levels; 

 but with extreme types, as heavy clay loams or light sandy loams, 

 there is needed more thorough treatment by increasing the amount 

 of vegetable matter, since there is no more effective way of making 

 over a soil in its relation to water and air than this. 



In using commercial fertilizers as a source of the food elements 

 needed by crops, it should be remembered that there is little positive 

 evidence that they can make over the soil in its relation to water, 



