The Story of the Soil; from the Basis of Absolute Science and Real Life,

e quickly bored into the soil to a depth of three or four f

ermanent pasture. Several draws or small valleys are tributary to the stream valley, thus furnishing excellent surface drainage for the entire farm. In some places the sides of these valleys are quite sloping and subje

there is on the farm. This land will positively not gro

ctive on the farm. Our level uplands are now valued at from one hundred fifty to two hundred dollars an acre. A farm of one hu

pped for upwards of two hundred years; and about all that has ever been done to keep up the fertility of the soil has been to rotate the cro

tion of crops would maintain the f

to think that, but I suppose it is

some important constituents of a fertile soil, but it will certainl

t quite grasp your meaning; but first te

of a ball. He broke this in two, inserted a piece of blue paper, and pressed it firmly together. He then laid the ball of soil aside, secured another sample with the auger, and f

ed 'muriatic acid.' It consists of two elements, hydrogen and chlorin, from which i

the application of chemistry to agriculture, and I am greatly interested to know the meaning of these tests you are making here on our own farm under

The acid is very concentrated, in fact about as strong as can easily be produced, but it need not be especially pure. Some care should be taken not to get it on the clothing or on t

name alone is sufficient to indicate the elements that compose this compound. It is only necessary to keep in mind the fact that the ending -ate on the

be divided into two or more substances All known matter consists of about eighty of these primary elements; a

owth and full development of corn or other plants. If any one of these ten elements is lacking, it is impossible to produce a kernel of corn, a grain of wheat,

the hydrochloric acid into t

it do?" ask

te with the formation of carbonic acid and calcium chlorid, a kind of salt that is used to make a brine that won't freeze in the artificial ice plants. The carbonic acid, if produced at once decomposes into water and carbon dioxid. No

calcium, carbon, and oxygen, you called them, I think-yo

present in other compounds, especially in silicates, which are the most abundant compounds in the soil and in the earth'

is much more complic

ntial science of soil fertility is much less complicated than many of the political questions of the day, such as the gold standard or free-silver basis, the tariff

n who is responsible for the management of farm lands ought surely to be at least as well informed concerning the principles which underlie the maintenance of soil fertility; provided, of course, that such knowledge is within his re

f blue paper, broke it in two again, and it was seen

n," said Mr. West, "that has

s then dried. This coloring matter has the property of turning blue in the presence of alkali and red in the presence of acid. The blue paper is prepared with

n slips of paper cost me five cents, an

us from blue to red shows that this soil is acid, or sour. The soil moisture contained enough acid to neutralize the trace of alkali contained in the blue paper and to change the paper to a distinctly light red co

and the other shows the presence of acidity, and consequently the need of lime

are not alkali soils,

e

s found in the 'black alkali' lands of the arid regions of the far West; but chemically consi

ity harmful

heat, corn, oats, and timothy; but some of the most valuable crops for soil improv

. West. "Clover never amounts to much on this kind of land, except where heavily fertili

wer to feed the clover crop as well as other crops. In other words it furnishes the essential materials of which these crops are made. In addition to this the decaying organic matter has power to liberate some plant food from the soil which

said Mr. West, "but may I now show y

of two or three acres. The borings were taken to a depth of about seven inches, and after being thoroughly mixed together an average sam

e of this sample," remarked Per

had analyzed this s

phorus, and perhaps of the potassium, magnesium, and calcium. All of these are absolutely essential for the growth of every agricu

ake to make this an

e only way to secure positive knowledge in advance as to what these soils contain. In other words, by this means we can take an absolute in

f we knew the contents of the crops that have been sold from this farm during the two centuries past, we would have a fairly good

ormal land means nearly, if not quite, as much in the making of definite plans for a system

hant's invoice of January the first may have no relation to the sales from his store on January the second. Now, the year with the farmer is as a day with the merchant. The farmer harvests his crop but once a year; whil

ur twelve-year rotation is a very good example of the kind of future planning the successful farmer must do. On the other hand, some of your neighbors, who have n

Mr. West, as he paused on a gent

to me," said Percy. "Just wha

or many years. It is easy to build this soil up with manu

Percy, testing with litmus and ac

except where w

e of the soil was colle

, "is about the most produ

, the question being directed m

over this old pasture land and plow it under for corn, we often harvest a crop of eight barrels to the acre,

one of the steepest

that was plowed two hundred years ago is the same soil that is plowed to-day; but these slopes lose surface soil by erosion at least as rapidly as the mineral plant food is removed by cropping; and to that extent they affo

t once proceeded to collect a composite sample

casionally there are traces of limestone present. The mass of soil seems to be faintly acid, but here and there are little pieces of lim

oon," he continued, "I shall be glad to forwar

laide when she goes for her music lesson this afte

ays more in this vicinity, and then I wish to visit other sections for a week or two, after which I would be glad