INTENSIVE AND EXTENSIVE FARMING 159 



of some degree of rashness in making mention of a maxim 

 of the ancients which will very probably be looked upon 

 as quite incredible, ' that nothing is so disadvantageous 

 as to cultivate land in the highest style of perfection.' " l 

 I wish again to call attention to this wise maxim of the 

 ancients, and I presume that many of the readers still 

 consider this law as quite incredible. 



106. Increased production due to natural causes. 

 Many times the results in one year are compared with the 

 results in succeeding years with different methods. If 

 the right year is chosen, we may expect wonderful results. 

 For with the same methods, the weather and crop pests 

 may show differences of over 100 per cent on succeeding 

 years. 



A more frequent source of error is the comparison of 

 intensive methods on good soil with ordinary methods 

 on ordinary soil. In nearly any community there are 

 soils that will give twice the yield given by other soils of 

 the same region. 



107. Weather risk and intensive methods. Just how 

 much it is wise to spend on a crop is largely a matter of 

 weather. If the rainfall limits the crop, no amount of 

 fertilizer can save it. On the contrary, the fertilizer may 

 result in very serious injury in dry weather. Because of 

 this danger, much farm manure is thrown away in the semi- 

 arid regions. In most cases, a way can probably be found 

 to use the manure to a profit by making very light applica- 

 tions with a manure spreader, particularly as a top dress- 

 ing. 



It may be shown that certain methods will conserve 

 moisture. Such methods are likely to be used in semi-arid 

 regions, but are not likely to be adopted in humid regions. 



1 Cato's Farm Management, Translated by "A Virginia Farmer." 



