THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 



SUGGESTIONS ON CHAPTER II 



49a. The following extracts from Bulletin 119 of the Cor- 

 nell Experiment Station illustrate the subject under discussion: 

 "The other day, I secured one sample of soil from a very hard 

 clay knoll upon which beans had been planted, but in which 

 they were almost unable to germinate ; another sample from a 



Fig. 7. Examples of poor and good texture. 



contiguous soil, in which beans were growing luxuriantly; and, 

 as a third sample, I chipped a piece of rock off my house, which 

 is built of stone of the neighborhood. All of these samples were 

 taken to the chemist for analysis. The samples of soil which 

 were actually taken to the chemist are shown in Fig. 7. The 

 rock (sample III), was hard native stone." 



The figures give the percentages of some of the leading con- 

 stituents in the three materials. 



Phosphoric Organic 



Moisture Nitroaen acid Potash Lime matter 



I. Unproductive clay. .. 13.25 .08 .20 1.1 .41 3.19 



II. Good bean land 15.95 .11 .17 .75 .61 5.45 



III. Rock .08 2.12 2.55 



"In other words, the chemist says that the poorer soil the 

 one upon which I cannot grow beans is the richer in mineral 



