ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 105 



In view of these facts, I shall confine myself to only such 

 methods as may be of general application. We lack much 

 in definite knowledge on this question of soil fertility on 

 account of the original fertility of our soils and the tempta- 

 tion to reach out for newer farms, we have not yet given 

 this question the due consideration that its great importance 

 demands. 



The experience of other countries is being repeated in 

 ours and the old and ever-recurring question is upon us of 

 maintaining j^rofitable productiveness by means of systematic 

 culture and returns to the soil. Let this comprise besides 

 what we call manure, such other help as is at hand, although 

 no fertilizer in itself— such as good tillage, drainage, summer 

 fallowing and judicious rotation of crops. There is no soil^ 

 how^ever rich, that cannot be impoverished by continually 

 taking therefrom and returning nothing. By a little wise 

 foresight this may be much easier prevented than remedied 

 afterwards. When once land has become totally impover- 

 ished, no amount of agricultural science can ever restore it 

 to its original fertility. 



The theory of rest is a vain delusion, as evidenced by the 

 fact that those Eastern farms that have been lying idle for 

 50 or 100 years are as poor today as at the time in whicli 

 they were abandoned; and the lands spoken of in the Bible 

 that at one time fed the mighty hosts of Israel, now after a 

 rest of thousands of years, hardly produce enough vegetation 

 to feed a goat. 



The dairy farmer should, as a rule, not go off his farm 

 for the materials to fertilize his land. Improved stock with 

 im])roved culture should solve for him the fertility of the 

 ^oil: in this matter the dairy farmer certainly has the ad- 

 vantage of the common farmer owing to the amount of stock 

 thai he keeps, Tlie opinion prevails that permanent pastures 

 result in increased fertility. In general this is not the case. 

 If nothing additional is fed during the time that the stock 

 is on pasture, they are merely returning what they have 

 taken off, resulting in no increase of fertility, and it hardly 

 ever pays to feed cattle when they find good grass in sufiicient 

 quantities. Whether permanent pastures should be kept at 

 all with us is yet an open question. On account of our hot. 



