Soil Improvement and More Profitable 

 Farming 



Grain crops in America are altogether too light and 

 uncertain for profitable agriculture. This is largely due 

 to lax methods of cultivation. In nearly all cases where 

 soil impoverishment is the direct cause of unsuccessful 

 farming, it can be shown that fertilization and the rota- 

 tion of crops have been neglected. 



This is true on thousands of farms where the equip- 

 ment is ample and the work of plowing and seeding is 

 quite thorough. The proof is clear that many land- 

 owners do not give attention to soil conservation. It is 

 owing to this that much of the best land is deteriorating. 

 In the newer states of the west, where large farms are the 

 rule, and the soil is still rich, a common fault is improper 

 methods of tillage. 



Despite the fertility of soil and the benefits of climate, 

 the wheat yield per acre annually is less than 14 bushels, 

 while England's is 32, Germany's 28, Holland's 34 and 

 France's 20. Oats make an equally distressing showing 

 in comparison ; and potatoes yield 85 bushels to the acre 

 in this country, against 200 or more in Great Britain, 

 Belgium and Germany. 



The average yield of corn per acre is 28 to 35 bushels, 

 as shown by official statistics ; but in all contests, no mat- 

 ter where held, a yield of 100 to 125 bushels is commonly 

 obtained. In many instances of competitive corn-raising, 

 tracts which had formerly produced 25 to 50 bushels per 

 acre have in the hands of experts yielded upward of 100 

 bushels. 



