CHAPTER V 



ENRICHING THE SOIL FARM RESOURCES 

 1. What Farm Resources Are 



105. The real fertility of the land is its 

 power to produce crops. It is sometimes said 

 to be the richness of the soil in elements of 

 plant -food ; but soils with much plant -food 

 may still be unproductive. Fertility is pro- 

 ductive power. It is the result of good physi- 

 cal condition and an abundance of available 

 pi ant -food. 



106. We have found (in Chapters ii., iii. 

 and iv.) that the first step towards increasing 

 the productiveness of soil is to improve its 

 physical texture. This improvement is accom- 

 plished both by mechanical means, as tillage 

 and drainage, and by the addition of humus. 

 The humus results from the application or incor- 

 poration of organic matter. 



107. We have seen (34) that humus is 

 supplied, in practice, by cropping, that is, by 

 vegetable matter left on the ground after the 

 crop is removed, or by crops plowed under j 



(77) 



