CHAPTER VII 



CROP PRODUCTION AND SOIL FERTILITY 



Factors in Crop Production. — Successful crop production 

 depends upon five factors, viz. : 



(1) Fertile soil. (2) Good seed. (3) Favorable temperature. 

 (4) Light. (5) Protection from injxny. 



Fertile Soil. — Good soil is a fxmdamental factor. Not only 

 should the soil be well drained and cultivated, but it should possess 

 all the qualities, properties and conditions which impart to it pro- 

 ductive power. The adjective "fertile'' is commonly used in 

 describing such a soil. 



It is not always possible to select fertile soil. Sometimes only 

 a portion of a farm is productive. Sometimes the soil of a farm is 

 sand, sometimes peat, and sometimes it consists of several kinds, 

 rich and poor. Happily it is within the possibilities of any thinking 

 farmer to transform a poor or unproductive soil into a productive 

 one; and he is a public-spirited man, indeed, whose ambition it is 

 to bring about such a transformation. 



What Makes a Soil Fertile.- — The qualities, properties and 

 conditions which impart productive power to a soil are as follows: 



(a) A Suitable Moisture Supply. — Without water nothing can 

 grow. Many lands have been turned from deserts into gardens 

 just by the addition of water through irrigation. Very frequently 

 crops even in humid climates and on good soil are much reduced, 

 or fail entirely because of drought. Sometimes there is too much 

 water in the soil — ^for this reason wet lands must be drained 

 before they can be made to grow any crop at all — excepting 

 wild hay. 



(h) Plenty of Air in the Soil, — ^Air in the soil is essential to 

 favor root growth, to favor the development of the helpful 

 soil organisms and to enable the necessary chemical changes to 

 take place. 



(c) Good Tilth. — It is important that the physical condition of 

 the soil should be such as to enable the young plants to get the 

 best possible start — to become quickly and firmly established in 

 the soil and to favor their development (Chapter V). 



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