Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-02-13
FERTILITY OF THE SOIL.
Great Problem Of Modern CIVlliza.
ton.


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Real SECRET OF GENUINE WEALTH
Arraisnment Of the Soil Robber ant
Sound, Practical, Scientific lnstrue
ton as How to Correct His Blum
ders.
A. G. Smith, the government farm
demonstrator, in lecture on agricul
lture in LeConte college, at the Uni
versity Of South Carolina, recently
gave In detail a concise statement o
the condition Of the soil. stating tn,
various amounts Of organic materiali
available for fertilizer they contain
and telling how this was best obtain.
ed. He said that the people Of thu
state could save a large part of the
fertilizer bill by intelligent application
Of the rotation of the crops and choice
Of suitable fertilizers. The statement
was backed up by the showing the ex.
pertinent farm at Aiken has made ir
the past two years. The members ol
the class were thoroughly impressed
with the conservation Of farming lant
and the fact that the farmer of to.
morrow must be able to deal with the
soA on a thoroughly scientific basis.
Mr. Smith stressed the necessity OF
n ~ fr
fadt the biggest yields the world over
are made by men who use selected
seed. He holds that the soil is the
heritage of the future generations and
the man who deliberately robs 1t Is
just as culpable as he who robs the
many suggestions Of inestimable value
that will be Of great benefit to his
hearers, and considers that the future
Of South Carolina is one Of the great
est, in productivity Of any state In the
Union.
AS agriculture Is the foundation OF
all Industry, 80 is the soil the founda-
tioh Of all agriculture. Good soils
produce better than poor ones, and
Continued cropping without returning
something to the land eventually de-
creRses the yields. The one great
problem Of the ages has been the pro-
duetion of food for the people. In an
cieht and medieval times tribes, and
even nations, warred with their neigh
bors and migrated from place to place
to find more productive lands. 1t was
this spirit that caused Lot to choose
the level lands Of the Jordan valley
and pitch his tent toward Sodom
while his uncle Abraham was left to
Craze his herds and flocks among the
rocks and hills Of Canaan. The swarm
ing of the Asiatic hordes over Europe
the invasion of Italy by the Franks
and the overrunning of England by
the Goths were influenced by the de-
sire to leave a worn-out soil and seek
IA fertile land as we'll as by the restless
and warlike spirit Of the people. The
congested centers Of Europe sought
an outlet in virgin America. A virile
people pushed over the Alleghanies
and settled in the Mississippi valley
and ultimately pushed their conquest
to the Pacific coast In their search
of greater opportunities.
Westward the course of empire takes
ftBsway. leaving in It's trail depicted
soils. The lands which once produced
the cedars Of Lebanon, and the fields
from which Christ plucked the wheat
have long since refused to grow profit
able crops. The territory once peo-
pied by the mighty Babylonian empire
Is now a barren waste, Of Importance
only to the curious traveller or archae-
ologist. The pyramids OF Egypt once
gazed down on a fertile land. but now
keen watch over a dreary plain. The
black lands Of Russia no longer grow
the yields Of wheat common a CEN
tury ago. Even in America there has
appeared along the Atlantic coast a
strip Of land ever broadening west
ward to which must be added fertil-
izer in order to maintain the produc-
tive power Of the soils.
Civilization has now encircled the
Globe There are no longer great
areas left for colonization and settle
ment. The choice portions of the
earth's surface are already occupied
and while the coming generations must
devote a portion Of their efforts to
conquering the undeveloped lands
their primary endeavor must be 70
increase the production on lands al
ready under cultivation.
In order to grow agricultural crops
successfully. there must be present es-
sential positive factors, which may
be designated by single words. viz:
seed, home, heat, light, moisture and
food. There are many negative rae
tors against which the plant should
be protected, such as injury from In
sects. birds or other animals, fungus
or other diseases or parasites. weeds
and even AGAINST an excess or some
positive factor, such as moisture.
Seed Is a factor Of much importance
Tn testing corn and cotton, experiment
stations have found wide variations IN
the yields of different varieties. Large
seed are, as q rule, better than small
seed, even though they he Of the same
variety and all good vitality. virgil
in the century before Christ wrote:
Still will the seeds, the chosen with
toilsome pains
Degenerate, If mans Industrious hand
Gull not each year the largest and the
best.
'Tis thus. by destiny. all things decay
And retroerade, with motion unper-
ceived."
Two thousands years later, as ar
average of seven years. the Ontario
agricultural college produced sixty
two bushels of oats per acre from large
seed, and only forty-seven bushels
from small seed, both selected from the
same stock each year. The selection
and breeding Of plants Is at least as
successful as the breeding OF animals
Thus many plants are developed with
power to yield for special purposes
The sugar beet has been developed by
breeding under the most scientific con-
troll until its sugar content has been
changed from per cent to more than
liz per cent, and until about one-half
Of the worlds supply Of sugar Is now
made from beets. =,
The home Of the plant Is the SOL
In which 1t lives. 1t may vary from
stiff impervious, CLAW to sandy loan
1t can be markedly modified In Its
physical characteristics by thorough
underdrainage, good tillage, the addi-
tion Of organic matter. the growing OF
deep rooted plants or In some cases
by the use Of limestone or mari. Sandy
soils can be improved by applying the
clay, say at the rate Of wagon load
to the square rod.
A proper temperature Is important
in crop production, although some
plants grow well in cool weather. while
others do best under tropical condi-
tions. Dark soils are warmer thar
| light cOlored soils, a difference of sew
eral degrees being noted during the
forenoon of the spring or early sum:
mer. The largest control Of soil tenn.
perature, however, lies In the contro
of soil moisture. Well drained soils
arc warmer than poorly drained soils
as 1t requires heat to evaporate the
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