SOILS AND AGRICULTURE OF NORFOLK. 
349 
VII. 
SOILS AND AGRICULTURE OF NORFOLK. 
By Mr. L. F. Newman. 
Read February 29th, 1912. 
The soil is of fundamental importance and the application of 
science to agriculture must necessarily begin with a study of 
the many factors affecting the fertility and productiveness of 
the soil. 
The practical agriculturist is concerned with the problem 
of securing the maximum crop the soil is capable of producing, 
while at the same time retaining the fertility of the land year 
after year — -“keeping it in good heart” — and to this end he 
devotes all his energies. 
The crop must be raised at the minimum expense, and 
it is quite possible to pay too high a price for a heavy yield 
of grain. It may pay the farmer better to farm at a low level, 
cheaply, and with a moderate return, than to expend con- 
siderable sums for the purpose of obtaining a larger crop. 
Under modern conditions the soil may be regarded as a 
medium for collecting into crops the supplies of plant food 
put into the land by the farmer, the profit being the difference 
in cost of the crop and the manures and labour expended on 
producing it. 
Soil Biology. 
In order that a soil may be fertile, the following conditions 
must be satisfied : — 
(a) It must contain enough chalk to ensure a permanent 
neutral reaction. 
(b) It must contain reasonable amounts of plant food in 
an available condition. 
VOL. IX. 
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