324 Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. 
t 
forming the soil act as condensers, precipitators of the vapor, and 
gases in the atmosphere surrounding them; but such is unques¬ 
tionably the case, and it becomes very apparent when we study the 
relation of the soil to the atmosphere. 
For the present, I will notice but one other feature of this rela¬ 
tion of the soil to water, and that is this; experience proves to us 
that our crops suffer as much—at certain times, and in certain con¬ 
ditions—from too much water in the soil, as they do from too lit¬ 
tle. The physical reason why, is no doubt this: In low lands, where 
the soil is resting upon an impervious subsoil, or in swampy land^ 
where the drainage is cut off, and where the water is more than 
can be absorbed by these pores and cells, the surplus water remains 
in the outer department of the soil, filling the air-passages and 
rendering inoperative the air, which is one of the essential elements 
of organic life. The remedy in such cases is found, not in attempt¬ 
ing to increase the absorbing power of the soil, but in under-drain¬ 
ing it, and thus relieving it of this obstruction to the passage of 
air. These two departments in the soil must be kept separate, and 
the relation of the soil to water and to air must harmonize and 
run in parallel lines, if we would be successful farmers. 
Other features of this question I might notice, but enough has 
been said to show that one great object of agriculture is, or should 
be, to increase the absorbing power of the soil, and to extend its 
capacity for water to such an extent as will guard the crops against 
danger in ordinary seasons of drought. This can be done only by 
a careful selection of material for the soil that has the greatest ab¬ 
sorbing power, and the most extensive capacity for water, such as 
humus, that is, organic matter, or in other words, decomposed veg¬ 
etable matter, whose absorbing power is 1.10, while common soil is 
but 23; and I may add, a system of cultivation that will not only 
widen the spaces between the particles, but keep them open, so 
that both water and air may find a free circulation. This, gentle¬ 
men, is the principle upon which cultivation rests, and the great 
want of the agriculture of our State to-day is more thorough cul¬ 
tivation. 
Professor Murrish: I would suggest to the consideration of this 
convention, this afternoon, the adaptation of plaster in connection 
with these particles of matter. We know plaster is composed of 
