8 BOARD OF AGRICULTrRE. [Pub. Doc. 



given the crop were favoraltlc the use of commercial fer- 

 tilizers generally paid well enongh to warrant their purchase 

 and to establish a more or less rational system of selecting 

 and applying them. Thus has the most profitable field prac- 

 tice with tobacco in the Connecticut valley been developed. 



But some fields would not produce a grade of leaf that 

 could be sold at a profit ; and this occurred, too, where the 

 same seed was used, and where the same conditions of fer- 

 tilization and care were supplied. Such failures were un- 

 questionably due to an unfavorable soil. I recall instances 

 where men failed to produce crops profitably notwithstand- 

 ing the fact that their endeavors were as vigorous and as 

 intelligently applied as those of more successful neighbors. 

 These men have been, in some cases at least, victims of the 

 lack of soil adaptation to the croj^ they were trying to grow, 

 and I fear that local judgment of their al)ility as farmers 

 has not infrequently been uncharitable. 



But a much more common loss has resulted from the trying 

 out of fields whose adaptability to tobacco was guessed at by 

 the individual farmer. One year's experience on a new 

 field has often been sufficient to show its lack of adaptability 

 to this crop, and the loss entailed not heavier than could be 

 Ijorne, but such trials have in the aggregate been very ex- 

 pensive, both for the individual and for the public. They 

 have been of gi'eat advantage, however, to the individual 

 farmer of to-day in giving him opportunity to avoid similar 

 mistakes if he will avail himself of the experience of his 

 own community. 



The correlation of all these results and best crop practices 

 found under a wide range of conditions can hardly be under- 

 taken by the individual, as it involves problems at least of 

 State and probably of l^ational scope. In many cases care- 

 ful experimentation is necessary before safe conclusions can 

 be drawn, and it is the endeavor of the National Department 

 of Agriculture, together with various State organizations, to 

 solve as many as possible of these diverse farm problems. 

 Tt is the province of the field work of the Bureau of Soils to 

 solve one of the several important factors of crop growing, 

 namely, how to select soils so that the different crops, and, 



