Natural Fertility of the Sail 5 



agencies, or whether soft and friable, and freely permit- 

 ting their entrance and action; and secondly, whether, 

 in the formation of the soil, the particles were so fine 

 and so free from vegetable matter as to settle in hard 

 and compact masses, impervious to water, air and 

 warmth; or whether they were coarse, and not ca- 

 pable of close compaction, thus giving rise to an open 

 and friable soil, freely admitting the active natural 

 agencies, such as we find to be the case in sandy soils. 

 In addition to these properties of soils, which have a 

 distinct place in determining fertility, there are many 

 other minor ones which together constitute what is 

 understood as "condition." 



Location of soil qualifies the term "fertility." 



Furthermore, fertility, even in this true sense, may 

 be useless because of the location of the soil which 

 possesses it. For example, there are many places on 

 this continent where sugar-producing plants will grow 

 and develop perfectly, since the soils are very rich in 

 the fertility elements, and since the surrounding con- 

 ditions are most favorable for their culture, yet, be- 

 cause of their location, it is unprofitable to grow them 

 for the manufacture of sugar. In the first place, the 

 soils are so situated as to make it impossible, or at 

 least impracticable, to provide the means necessary for 

 converting the sugar-producing crop into actual sugar, 

 and, in the second place, even if it were possible to 

 do so, the great distance from shipping stations to 

 markets so increases the cost of transportation as to 

 make it unprofitable to compete in the market with the 

 crops grown upon lands possessing true fertility in a lower 

 degree. 



