Fertilizers vs. Tillage. 141 
cious plowing in a wet time as to ruin it for the 
growing of crops for two or three years. The in- 
jury lies in the modification of its physical texture, 
not in the lessening of its fertility. A sandy soil 
may also be seriously impaired for the growing of 
any crop if the humus, or decaying organic matter, 
is allowed to burn out of it. It then becomes leachy, 
it quickly loses its moisture, and it becomes ex- 
cessively hot in bright, sunny weather. Similar re- 
marks may. be applied to all soils, although they 
are not equally true of all. 
If these remarks are true, then it follows that 
it is useless to apply commercial fertilizers to lands 
which are not in proper physical condition for the 
very best growth of crops. If potash, for example, 
were applied to hard lumps of clay, it could not be 
expected to aid in the growth of plants, because 
plants cannot grow on such a place. If the same 
quantity were applied to mellow soil, however, the 
greater part of it would be presented to the roots 
of plants at once, and its effects would no doubt 
be apparent in the season’s crop. The improvement 
of the texture of the soil is not only a means of 
presenting the plant-foods to the roots of plants and 
of uniformly distributing what fertilizer may be ap- 
plied, but it is also a direct means of conserving 
moisture and of hastening chemical activities. 
The soil is a vast storehouse of plant-food, and 
the first effort of the husbandman should be to 
make this store available to plants. “Men take him 
for a foole or a mad man that, having store of 
