Fertilizers vs. Tillage. 141 



cious plowing in a wet time as to ruin it for the 

 growing of crops for two or three years. The in- 

 jury lies in the modification of its physical texture, 

 not in the lessening of its fertility. A sandy soil 

 may also be seriously impaired for the growing of 

 any crop if the humus, or decaying organic matter, 

 is allowed to burn out of it. It then becomes leachy, 

 it quickly loses its moisture, and it becomes ex- 

 cessively hot in bright, sunny weather. Similar re- 

 marks may be applied to all soils, although they 

 are not equally true of all. 



If these remarks are true, then it follows that 

 it is useless to apply commercial fertilizers to lands 

 which are not in proper physical condition for the 

 very best growth of crops. If potash, for example, 

 were applied to hard lumps of clay, it could not be 

 expected to aid in the growth of plants, because 

 plants cannot grow on such a place. If the same 

 quantity were applied to mellow soil, however, the 

 greater part of it would be presented to the roots 

 of plants at once, and its effects would no doubt 

 be apparent in the season's crop. The improvement 

 of the texture of the soil is not only a means of 

 presenting the plant -foods to the roots of plants and 

 of uniformly distributing what fertilizer may be ap- 

 plied, but it is also a direct means of conserving 

 moisture and of hastening chemical activities. 



The soil is a vast storehouse of plant -food, and 

 the first effort of the husbandman should be to 

 make this store available to plants. "Men take him 

 for a foole or a mad man that, having store of 



