IMPROVING THE SOIL. 43 



grain were grown and taken away from the soil and nothing was 

 put back. These crops took up the plant food out of the soil. 

 The rich soil has become poor. If you put a thousand dollars in 

 the bank and then begin to draw out a hundred dollars every 

 year and put nothing in, you will one day use up all of your 

 money your bank account will become less and less, and you 

 will become poor. So with the soil. There is a limited amount 

 of plant food in the soil, and even though you drain and work 

 it well, if year by year you take away from it and put nothing 

 back your soil will in time become poor. Some soils are richer 

 than others and therefore will not become run down so soon. 

 Now let us consider the method of preventing good soils from 

 becoming poor and of making poor soils richer. 



FALLOWING THE SOIL. In former years, before the great 

 prairies were open to settlers, the farmers of Ontario and the 

 Eastern States grew wheat as their principal market crop. Its 

 price in many years was more than one dollar a bushel. The 

 usual practice was to prepare the land for fall wheat by a bare 

 faltuw. The soil was allowed to lie idle or unproductive for 

 the whole or the greater part of the season preceding the 

 sowing. It was plowed from time to time and harrowed. 

 What benefit did that tilling bring ? The rains fell and washed 

 down a little material out of the air. This will be seen if you 

 contrast rain water with clear spring water the former has 

 been changed, something has been taken out of it by the soil, 

 and something else given to it by the soil. The soil is bene- 

 fited by rain water passing through it. Then some ammonia 

 might get into the soil from the air. Nothing of a solid 

 mineral nature, however, such as potash, or soda, or lime, or 

 phosphates could get into the soil from the air, simply because 

 they are not found in the air. But one thing could be done 

 and that was done, namely, the air could get into and through 

 the soil and help weather it and work it over into form avail- 

 able for plant food. Bare fallow, then, does not increase the 



