138 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc 



But, notwithstanding the fact that .some of the teachings 

 of this bulletin have been very generally rejected, many of 

 the considerations urged in its pages are of first importance 

 to the farmer. There is not the slightest doubt but that soil 

 sterility is very often due, not to a lack of any of the con- 

 stituents of the soil necessary to plant growth, but to un- 

 favorable phj^sical conditions or an insufficient W'atersupph\ 

 Without question the farmers of this country have expended 

 millions of dollars in attempting to do what might more 

 cheaply and more efficiently have been accomplished by 

 proper tillage and a rational system of rotation of crops, 

 often by the introduction of organic matter into the soil. 

 There is no excuse for us if we do not now give to the term 

 fertilit}^ a more comprehensive meaning than has hitherto 

 prevailed. It must be made to include water supply, soil 

 color and temperature, as well as soil composition. The 

 effects of poor soil management are not likely to be rem- 

 edied with a bag: of fertilizer, and there are hundreds of 

 farmers who have conclusivel}^ shown that the bag of fertil- 

 izer has not been an essential factor in their success. 



In view of the agencies which we now recognize as in- 

 volved in soil fertility, is any less significance to be attached 

 to the use of farm manm-es and purchased fertilizers? Shall 

 we continue to urge the importance of animal husbandry 

 and the careful saving of all kinds of home-produced ma- 

 nures, and shall we still encourage the judicious use of com- 

 mercial manures? There certainly can be no question as to 

 the profits which have resulted very generally from the use 

 of fertilizers of all kinds ; this is a fact not to be ignored, 

 whatever we may regard as the explanation of the results of 

 such practice. At the same time, if by any other means 

 we are able to maintain soil fertility and produce satis- 

 factory crops, there are certain expenses attached to the 

 purchase of manurial substances which we might as well 

 avoid . 



Much depends upon what is the real explanation of the 

 effect upon the soil of organic manures, as well as those 

 which we ordinarily know as commercial. The soil physi- 

 cist concedes the value of farm manures when applied to the 

 soil, but he explains their influence by stating that they 



