THE POSITION OF NITROGEN IN AGRICUL- 

 TURE, OUR LEADING INDUSTRY 



An Address delivered by Dr. William S. Myers, before 

 The American Railway Development Association at 

 their Annual Meeting at San Antonio, Texas. 



In his first inaugural Washington said, "Where 

 Agriculture leads all other arts follow." Most of the 

 annual additions to our national wealth come from 

 farming and our agriculture is still growing. The 

 land is the foundation upon which we build our eco- 

 nomic structure. 



The world taken as a whole is a great farm and our 

 soils are filled with millions of microscopic animal 

 and vegetable life — vast colonies of living things 

 which act and react upon each other. Every square 

 yard is populated with billions of workers and un- 

 known laborers — some helping as soil builders — 

 some helping in the work of unlocking fertility — 

 some, under certain conditions, helping to destroy it. 



The average soil is capable of holding more or less 

 one-fifth of its weight in water. The greater the soil 

 population of bacteria bred by proper farming, the 

 greater is its capacity for holding water and soil solu- 

 tions. Good soils also possess great holding capacity 

 for solids in solution owing to the capacity of soil 

 granules to exercise upon liquids what is known as 

 surface tension. So far as growing crops are con- 

 si 



