The Red Cloud chief., 1881-10-06


used by writers on agriculture, express.
IS the AMOUNT oi plan, food that Is pres
ea, in the soil In n form 70 be taken up
by the growing crops- This fertility i
best measured By the crops which the
soil viii produce. but owing to 50 maay
modifying causes. IL Is safe 10 Judge Of
the state OF fertility of any sod oalv
after three or nor crops have been
grown. A sol may be rich. bui for
some other reason produce. for evan
pie, only 8 small crop o. corn this year.
owing. IL may be. To- excessive dryness
or the reverse, to poOr seed and other
modifying causes.
IL IS 4 natural question 10 ask whcn-c
this fertility comes. n ! in VIA chem.c-
NJ elements aud compounds IT consists
In answering this question. the features
of m infcrtile or barren. or n. i, i most
frequently called. an exsauste2 soii. wall
be brought forward ~ the natural OPP
posite OF fertility. 4 fertile soil. one
that IL capable under favorable cirCum-
stances of producing n paving crop.
must contain all OF those elements of
fool that agricultural plants derive from
the soil. and. a. before stated, IN avail
able form. This last clause is of great
Importance. iorthe sol mas contain \
full complement Of food elements. but
have one or more locked up in some
insoluble form, in which state it j. ot
very little use. A soil that has all these
elements OF plant food. without their
having been added by the hand OF man.
may be termed nIturiHy fertile soil
one that OF itself will produce good
crops of grain. roots, etc. Such are the
r,ch yirsin sol of ali new countries. -
the vast areas OF the VI ssi,sippi VALLEY.
when they were first broken by the
plow. and much of the far West thu. IS
now be nc brought into cultivation. 4
soil that is naturally poor or intertlie
may be made 10 produce paying crops,
by adding the elements of plant food IN
the form of barnyard manure. or it,
equivalent in commercial fertilizers.
In the same way. u soil that was once
naturally fertile, but has become poor
or exhausted by constant cropping. may
be restored TO its original virgin fcrtil-
ity or kept in 4 sufficiently fertile state
to produce good crops. This last is the
work of the farmer in all old countries;
the keeping up Of the fertility OF the
soil is the problem. often perplexing
and difficult. that all farmers upon old
land have TO work out during their
whole lives. With them the sol II a
machine" or perhaps evidently,
, factory" in which the plants work.
and Out of the crude materials supplied
to the soil. together with those iur-
nished by the air. they make the sub
stance of their stem, leaf. fruit and
grain. In this n a large farm may
be 4 thousand acre factory where
grains and fruits. leaf and wool, are
made from the crude materials. which
must in good part be supplied by the
farmer To the soil. All OF the farming
in the countries of the old world and
much of that in the older-settled parts
of the new is of this factory kind.
where the most successful farmer is he
who knows best how much OF the raw
material To put into the factory and
how and when it is best 10 DO il. lie
is also the one who runs the grain and
leaf producing mill with the greatest
cconomy-wilh the least wear and tear
upon the machinery, SO To speak, and
sells his goods at the right time and
place. and Therefore atthe greatest profit.
There is another style OF farming
which is more largely pracIiced in
America han anywhere else; namely,
the farming upon new and rich sofia
soil that has n virgin fertility sufficient
to grow large crops, and no addition
of fertilizers of any kind is needed.
The fact that We have such land and
such farming is felt the world over,
and gives the American virgin-soil
farmer certain important advantages
over all who must feed their soil be-
fore a crop can be raised with success.
1t is simply a process of taking off from
the soil with no corresponding return.
and for a time the products of grain.
beef, etc, can be sold more cncaply
than the same can be grown where an
expenditure must he made in food for
the soil. Blu: as fertility is SO largely
dependent upon the of nitrogen
in tn soil. and this is stored up only by
previous generations of plants. any Sc
we're cropping-in which more nitrogen
is removed from the soil in the crop
than is formed and stored up in the
soil during the same period-will soon
er or later bring the most fertile soil
to a state of exhaustion. There is,
therefore, an end, though il may be
many years hence, to the v~irgin-soil
farming in America. When this comes.
all will engage in the give and take"
system. or supply and demand prac-
tice; that is. supply the soil with its
quota of food. and demand in return a
fair compensation for the expenditure.
in the shape OF a paying crop. When
this time comes, the competition be-
tween the farmers upon the new and
the old lands will be more healthful,
and u system of agriculture will be-
come evident. because common to all
Cor. Country Gentleman.