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to physical conditions was not disturbed to any great extent through 

 the agency of man. These natural conditions had probably existed 

 since the glacial period, possibly ten thousand years more or less, 

 and a considerable amount of organic matter, due to centuries of 

 decay, covered the surface of the soil. Some of the clay hills had 

 already been cleared by the Indians in early times for agricultural 

 purposes, which were in turn eagerly sought for by the English 

 migrators. The profuse growth of timber trees constituted a hin- 

 derance rather than a blessing to the early settlers, as a conse- 

 quence of which large tracts of primitive growth were cut and 

 burned on the spot. By this process a large amount of wood ashes 

 was formed, which gave rise to remarkable crops of white clover, 

 but at the same time the deposition of years of organic matter of 

 a priceless value was destroyed by these fires. The cutting and 

 burning process has been going on ever since, much to the detri- 

 ment of the organic matter and crop production capacity of the 

 soil. The open fields and meadows were once rich in organic 

 matter, but these have become depleted through our methods of 

 farming, which have cousisted in taking everything from the soil 

 without always making much attempt to replace that which has 

 been removed. Had the practice of plowing in green crops been 

 in vogue from the earliest times our soil would have shown much 

 more of its primitive virginity, and its productiveness would have 

 been much different at the present time. 



The constant depletion of organic matter which is taking place 

 in all of our soils is one of its most marked characteristics of the 

 present time, and with this decrease has come inferior crops, an 

 additional increase in certain weeds, and, as already pointed out, 

 quite marked changes in the abundance and habitats of our native 

 plants. It remains for us to consider how these exhausted soils 

 can be brought back to a condition resembling their primitive form. 

 It would take, to be sure, some centuries to restore these soils to 

 their primitive form, as this would require the deposition and de- 

 composition of an immense amount of vegetable matter. Inas- 

 much as nature has often assumed the role of a teacher in other 

 matters, we can profitably turn to her guidance in considering how 

 to make our depleted soils more like those formerly existing here, 

 and which will in consequence be better adapted to support a crop. 



The most rational method that we know of at the present time 

 which appears to accomplish this to a certain extent is the con- 

 tinual plowing in of green crops. This practice is by no means 

 resorted to as much as it should be by farmers. The cultivation 

 of cover crops and subsequently turning them under not only in- 

 creases the organic matter and food constituents of the soil, 



