CH. vi] General Considerations 125 



Summary 



In order to get the best out of the land an inspection 

 must be made to see what are likely *to be its chief de- 

 fects, in other words, what will constitute the limiting 

 factors. There may, be insufficient water or excess of 

 water, insufficient depth of soil, insufficient of any of 

 the proper constituents: [a) of clay, when the soil will 

 not hold together but will blow about; (6) of calcium 

 carbonate, when the tilth will be poor and the soil sour 

 as shown by the presence of sorrel, the failure of clover, 

 and by poor growth generally; (c) of organic matter, 

 when the tilth will be unsatisfactory; {d) of various 

 nutrient substances. 



The defect may arise from the fault of the soil itself 

 or of its situation. 



Any defect of this kind will set a limit beyond which 

 the crop cannot be increased. To remove the defect may 

 be the landlord's business rather than the tenant's, but 

 it is useless to try and force the crop beyond the limit 

 thus set. Once the defect is removed, however, better 

 crops can be obtained. 



The central features of management in cropping land 

 up to its full capacity are : 



Crops and varieties are selected that are specially 

 suited to the conditions. Some crops such as buck- 

 wheat, rye and flax will tolerate bad conditions ; others 

 will not. 



Sufficient lime or chalk is added. The land is periodic- 

 ally subsoiled or ploughed deeply. Every effort is made 

 to keep up the supply of nitrogenous organic matter in 

 the soil: leguminous crops are grown: "seeds" are left 

 for two or three years and sometimes crops are grown 



