CHAPTER XII 



GREEN MANURING AND WORN-OUT SOILS 



ONE of the most significant phrases that has 

 recently come into our agricultural vocab- 

 ulary is "Keep the soil m good texture." 

 The older farmers of to-day heard nothing about 

 this in their early years, although many of them 

 were skilful in securing the results now expressed 

 by these words. Like many another idea in 

 agriculture, good texture has been talked about 

 and exploited to a degree that is not, perhaps, com- 

 mensurate with its real importance in the successful 

 tilling of the soil. Good texture, like the liming 

 of soils, is but one of many important factors 

 that enter into that most complex problem of 

 modern agriculture how to maintain the fertility 

 of the soil. However, it is a subject that is not 

 generally understood by those who till the soil, 

 and one that cannot be overlooked or disregarded 

 without loss. There are thousands of acres of 

 land that produce indifferent or unprofitable crops 

 for no other reason than that the soil is poor in 

 texture( . p / 



WHAT IS MEANT BY "GOOD TEXTURE" 



Land is in good heart or good texture when it 

 is in the right physical condition for growing crops. 

 This means that it possesses the qualities expressed 

 by such common farm words as mellow, loose, 

 friable, porous, easy to work; and is not hard, 



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