Summary Conclusions. 223 



and a little more of that as he thinks the different 

 trees or the different types of land may need. 

 There is no other way of arriving at this local 

 knowledge except by trying for oneself. If one is 

 observant of the conditions, he will after a time come 

 to have an intuitive sense of what the land prob- 

 ably needs, but he may not be able to tell just 

 why it needs it. In most matters of handicraft in 

 agriculture, the skilled man develops methods and 

 results almost unconsciously. These methods are 

 really founded upon close observation and truthful 

 inductions, but the person can rarely ever impart 

 this particular information to his neighbor. The 

 only general statement, perhaps, which can be made, 

 is that liberal applications of potash and phos- 

 phoric acid should nearly always be made to bearing 

 fruit plants, if the grower desires the best results; 

 and he may be able to supply his nitrogen more 

 cheaply by cover crops and tillage than by buying 

 chemicals, 



