Newark post., 1922-06-28

Dean G. A. McCue, of the Univer-
sity of Delaware, made the opening
address at the conference Of a Soil
Fertility Conference held here last
Thursday. The Deans address fol-
lows. The subject on which Dean
McCue spoke was: "What the Della
ware Experiment Station is Doing
Along Soil Fertility Lines"
'I feel that I should formally open
the Conference by word of welcome.
The agricultural investigator and the
fertilizer manufacturer have many
problems in common. The investi-
gator is anxious to ascertain what
plant foods are necessary for eco
nomic crop production; to find out
under what conditions plant food can
be most economically furnished the
growing crop; to determine under
what soil conditions and crop rota-
tions best results can be secured from
the use of fertilizers, and what meas
ures are necessary for the proper con-
servation of soil fertility. The fer
tilizer manufacturer is anxious to
supply plant food materials that will
give the best economic effects upon
growing crops and permanent soil
fertility under a great diversity of
environmental conditions. 1t is es-
pecially fitting, therefore, that the in
vestigator and the fertilizer interests
table and discuss this all important
problem of Plant Food and Soil Fer
tility. 1t, therefore, gives especial
satisfaction to bid you welcome to
the University of Delaware Agricul-
tural Experiment Station. All the re-
sources of the School of Agriculture
of the University are at your disposal
today. The latch string out, the staff
is at your disposal, and as they used
to say at my old college boarding club,
If you see anything you want and
can't reach ask for it.
Before entering in a discussion of
the work of this Experiment Station
along soil fertility lines it might be
we'll to devote a few moments to a
brief survey of soil and crop condi-
tions in Delaware. The major por-
tion of the soils of the state are Of
alleuvial deposit and belong to the
Atlantic Central Plains types, similar
to those found in Southern New Jer-
sey, Eastern Maryland, Eastern Vir-
ginia and the Eastern Carolinas.
Only in the extreme northern part of
the state do we find soils that were
made in place, and these belong to the
Piedmont Plateau Series. The Costal
Plains types are largely loans, sandy
loans, and sands. The Piedmont soils
in the Northern part of the State are
loans, chiefly Of the Chester series.
Unfortunately the fertilizer plots of
the Experiment Station are located in
a transitional zone, between the
Piedmont and Costal Plain types and
are really typical of only a small
area of the State.
"The agriculture of the Northern
third of the State is general farming
and dairy farming, the principal
crops being wheat, corn, hay, and
localized trucking areas. In the
southern two-thirds to three-fourths
of the state we find great diversity
OF crops, corn is grown everywhere in
the state and the total production is
above the consuming need, in other
words Delaware is surplus corn pro-
ducing state. Wheat is grown on all
soil types, excepting the light sands
in the northern part of the state;
other field crops are alfalfa, soy
beans, COW peas, white potatoes, and
sweet potatoes. A considerable por.
tion OF the southern-most county is
strictly sweet potato section. Among
fruits and vegetables Delaware pro-
duces apples, peaches, pears, straw
berries, cantaloupes, cucumbers and
watermelons. Thus one may see that
although Delaware is small, she has
great diversity of agricultural
crops. Commercial fertilizers are
used with practically every crop
grown in the state, and the soil is
wonderfully responsive in crop re-
turns from the use of commercial
plant foods.
"The staff of this Station is small,
its resources are limited, and we feel
that we are but barely able to scratch
the surface of the many problems that
present themselves. We have a Pack