No. 4.] SOIL FERTILITY. 151 



I am sorry to say that I cannot tell very well what the 

 results would have been from that venture, for the reason 

 that the most of our stock was sold the 1st of November. 

 We reduced the grain mtion one-half, and they seem to be 

 doing just as well. You must feed cows something that has 

 protein in it, and if you cannot buy it, you will have to go 

 to work and raise it on your own farm. 



The Chair. ]\Iay we hear from Dr. Wiley this afternoon ? 



Dr. H. W. Wiley (of Washington, D. C.) . I simply want 

 to sa}^ in regard to the theme of the afternoon, that I think 

 it is the fundamental theme of agriculture, — the fertility 

 of the soil. And I must say, upon the whole, that I pretty 

 generally agree with all the lecturer has said. Of course 

 the fertility of the soil is to be regarded in two lights : the 

 potential fertility, that is, how much matter has the soil 

 in it which is available for plant growth ; and the second, 

 kinetic, or how much matter has the soil available for the 

 use of the plant. It is hardly necessary to discuss the ques- 

 tion of environment, because a crop is more climatic than is 

 soil. You must remember that no amount of climate can 

 make a crop where there is no plant food, and no amount 

 of plant food can make a crop where there is no climate. 

 You may take the fertile soils of the south and transfer them 

 to the north, but no amount of labor will enable you to grow 

 bananas, pineapples and oranges. All these things must be 

 considered in discussing the matter. 



Now, to put aside all environment except the soil itself, 

 for that is the only way we can get at this question, — that 

 is, assuming the environment is favorable, because to a cer- 

 tain extent man can control not only the soil but also the 

 environment. You can put up a greenhouse here and grow 

 tropical fruits in South Framingham ; and you can take the 

 poorest soil in jVIassachusetts and grow an}^ crop you want 

 to, by fertilizing it, in the same way. So in that respect 

 man controls both environment and the soil. If he takes 

 from arid regions soils that would grow nothing in their 

 natural environment, he can convert them to the most fertile 

 soils in the world. I will say that man's influence over the 

 soils is far more easily exercised than it is over the climate. 



