not the humus of the chemist, but 

 the material on its way to form hu- 

 mus. Lands formerly fertile when 

 freshly cleared have been, through 

 injudicious cultivation, robbed of this 

 organic decay, and the soil bakes 

 hard in summer, and clover fails even 

 where a good stand is had in spring, 

 from burning out i.n the late summer. 

 Soils, too, have become acid, and the 

 bacteria that help the legumes to get 

 nitrogen from the air cannot live in 

 acid conditions. Lecturing to'' farmers 

 in the fine county of Bucks, Pa, 1 

 found that they were running their 

 land in grass to sell hay in the, city 

 until the grass got so poor it no long- 

 er paid, and then they turned the sod. 

 for corn and oats, and then back to 

 grass. I asked them why they did 

 not practice a shorter rotation and 

 grow clover to improve the land and 

 restore the humus. "But we cannot 

 grow clover any more," they told me. 

 Their lands formerly grew magnifi- 

 cent clover, but had got acid and the 

 clover no longer thrives, and in- 



means of a little fertilizer. And the 

 favorite brand, because the price is 

 low, is the article that analyzes 2% 

 ammonia, 8% phosphoric acid and 2% 

 potash. To make this low grade the 

 manufacturer is compelled to use not 

 less than 500 pounds of worthless 

 filler. The farmer pays him for sack- 

 ing this and pays the railroad for 

 freighting the sand. It is hard to 

 convince- farmers that what plant 

 food this grade contains costs more 

 than that in a higher grade sold for 

 more money a ton. 



Then, with so low a grade of fer- 

 tilizer they will put 200 pounds an 

 acre in the furrows and bed on it. 

 The crop starts off slightly better for 

 it, and soon the roots are feeding out- 

 side of the furrows in dea/A, poor land 

 and the crop dwindles in the most 

 important period, the fruiting time, 

 and the little amount of fertilizer 

 used is absolutely wasted. The sanri'^ 

 amount of money spent in simple 

 acid phosphate and used for the 

 growth of the eowpeas and clover 



B'k 



^ 



