THE 46 
GARDEN YARD 
us is that we cannot maintain the dry mulch, 
because we have rain on the average every three 
days. If you knew what was coming, you could 
save your crop through any ordinary period 
of drought, provided you had the skill, the 
judgment and the chance which would lead you 
to begin your operations at just the right time.” 
According to Professor Whitney there are 
about 400 distinct types of soil so far encount- 
ered in the United States, with varying degrees 
of known fertility, and only eight or ten staple 
crops growing. This, of course, does not in- 
clude the special crops like celery; it is the 
regular, staple field or garden crops that are 
unnecessarily limited. These are grown on all 
kinds of soil in all parts of the country without 
regard to the suitability of the soil to the crop. 
The Government, through the Department 
of Agriculture, has given a great impetus to 
plant introduction, and you cannot of course 
expect to rival or approach it, with its enormous 
funds and staff of experts, but you can experi- 
ment with the new crops it introduces. Hither- 
to, in this country, where the soil was too dry 
for corn or wheat, or too moist for potatoes, it 
has been neglected altogether; but the present 
movement includes finding crops suitable for 
these lands. The Government has introduced 
