THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
175 
FINALLY 
Send yoni' nienil)(*rshi]) fee to the Secretary NOW, 
aec()m])ani(‘(l 1)V order for Badge Itook advertise¬ 
ment. ACT PROMITIAL 
Eor further information, write 
dolm Hall, ASV'c/r/e/ 7 /, 
l^O-f (Jranite Building, Rochester, N. Y. 
SOIL ROBBING ITS. SOIL BUILDING. 
By WILLIAM GALLOWAY. 
The average American farmer has often been ac¬ 
cused of rol)bing liis soil l)y the methods he uses to 
farm it. This accusation being made by soil cultur- 
ists who know what good farming is, should long ago 
have been heeded. We have been called soil I'obbers 
ing. You put th(‘ gi‘(‘en manuri* umh'r the gi'ound so 
the land will g(‘t tlu‘ nitrog(‘n, humus (which is rot¬ 
ted v(‘getation that makes a soil black) and oth(*r or- 
gani(* matter as well as tlu' ])hos])horus contaiiu'd in 
the cover ci'O]). 
Dee]) ])lowing biangs to the surface* ])lant foods 
that shalloAv rooted ])lants cannot i-(‘ach. That is the 
why of a good crop following d(‘(!p ])lowing. 15ie 
roots of the growing crop fee'd u])on niti-ogen, ])hos- 
])horus, ])otash and oth(‘r ])lant foods that de(*j) ])low- 
ing brings u]) where the cro]) can fee'd u])on them. Le¬ 
gumes are nearly all ta]) I’ooted ])lants that l)urn)w 
their way down into the soil and fe'ed ui)on tlu'se 
])lant foods, bringing them n(*arer the surface and 
making them available for the gi-ain oi‘ other cro|)S 
whi('h follow. The ability of ])i-o})erly inoculated 
Marshall Brothers, Arlington, Nebraska. 
for the simple reason that we have been taking from 
the soil more than we have returned to it. Possibly 
this has been true because we did not really know 
Avhat to return to the land to kee]) u]) its fertility. 
But it is doubtful if any man really thought about his 
farming o])erations and overlooked the tact that 
what he was feeding to the soil Avas out of pro]) 0 ]'tion 
to what he Avas trying to take from it. 
Hoil farming is common sense farming. It is tak¬ 
ing off crops and restoring used plantfood-soilfertil- 
ity. Taking off crops and returning chemical fer¬ 
tilizers is not soil farming, though at times chemicals 
must be restored so that the laud be 
put (piickly into shai)e to groAV cro])S that 
Avill enrich itself. Wdien a coAu^r cro]) 
of coAA" ])eas or soy beans or A^etcdi is turned un¬ 
der for the green immure it feeds to the soil, the pro¬ 
cess is nothing but sim])ly chemistry applied to farm- 
legumes to store nitrogen in their roots also stoi-es in 
the soil this first element of all i)lant food; and in ad¬ 
dition to storing nitrogen for cro])s that may folloAV 
them, legumes may l)e us(*d for money crops, stock 
feeding croi)S and other ])ur])oses, and Avill not de- 
])lete the land u])on Avhich they are groAvn. 
A ])art of the small roots of all legume plants die 
off annually and form humus, Avhich makes the soil 
more ])orous and conse(|uently adds to its physical 
condition. (\)mmercial fertiliz(*rs must be used an¬ 
nually because the cro])S on Avhich they are used and 
their constant leeching aAAUiy, demands it. Fertili¬ 
zers are too ex])ensiA'e*for permanent farming in the 
first ])lace, and they do not improve the soil’s i)hysi- 
cal condition. Dig into any A’ii'gin soil and you Avill 
find it full of humus and ])lant food. With a little 
AA’orking this soil Avill hecome loose and in ])erfect 
])hysical condition to ])roduce most any cro]). Ask 
