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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/4527.txt b/4527.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1ee2423 --- /dev/null +++ b/4527.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11473 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Story of the Soil, by Cyril G. Hopkins +#2 in our series by Cyril G. Hopkins + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before distributing this or any other +Project Gutenberg file. + +We encourage you to keep this file, exactly as it is, on your +own disk, thereby keeping an electronic path open for future +readers. Please do not remove this. + +This header should be the first thing seen when anyone starts to +view the etext. 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Hart +and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] +[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales +of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or +software or any other related product without express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.10/04/01*END* + + + + + + +This etext was produced by Steve Solomon (ssolomon@soilandhealth.org). + + + + +THE STORY OF THE SOIL + +From the Basis Of Absolute Science and Real Life + +BY CYRIL G. HOPKINS + +Author of "Soil Fertility and Permanent Agriculture" + +BOSTON + +1911 + + + + + + +TO MY WIFE + + + + + + +PREFACE + + + + + +Truth is better than fiction; and this true story of the soil is +written in co-operation with the Press of America and in competition +with popular fiction. + +The scenes described exist; the references given can all be found +and verified; and the data quoted are exact, although some of the +story dates antedate the scientific data. + +As a rule the names employed are substitutes, but the general +localities are as specified. + +If the Story of the Soil should ever fall into the hands of any +individual who suspects that he has contributed to its information, +the author begs that he will accept as belonging to himself every +gracious attribute and take it for granted that anything of opposite +savor was due to autosuggestion. + +CYRIL G. HOPKINS. + +University of Illinois, Urbana. + + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE OLD SOUTH + + + + + +PERCY JOHNSTON stood waiting on the broad veranda of an old-style +Southern home, on a bright November day in 1903. He had just come +from Blue Mound Station, three miles away, with suit-case in hand. + +"Would it be possible for me to secure room and board here for a few +days?" he inquired of the elderly woman who answered his knock. + +"Would it be possible?" she repeated, apparently asking herself the +question, while she scanned the face of her visitor with kindly eyes +that seemed to look beneath the surface. + +"I beg your pardon, my name is Johnston,--Percy Johnston--" he said +with some embarrassment and hesitation, realizing from her speech +and manner that he was not addressing a servant. + +"No pardon is needed for that name," she interrupted; "Johnston is a +name we're mighty proud of here in the South." + +"But I am from the West," he said. + +"We're proud of the West, too; and you should feel right welcome +here, for this is 'Westover,'" waving her hand toward the inroad +fields surrounding the old mansion house. "I am Mrs. West, or at +least I used to be. Perhaps the title better belongs to my son's +wife at the present time; while I am mother, grandma, and +great-grandmother. + +"Yes, Sir, you will be very welcome to share our home for a few days +if you wish; and we'll take you as a boarder. We used to entertain +my husband's friends from Richmond,--and from Washington, too, +before the sixties; but since then we have grown poor, and of late +years we take some summer boarders. They have all returned to the +city, however, the last of them having left only yesterday; so you +can have as many rooms as you like. + +"Adelaide!" she called. + +A rugged girl of seventeen entered the hall from a rear room. + +"This is my granddaughter, Adelaide, Mr. Johnston." + +Percy looked into her eyes for an instant; then her lashes dropped. +He remembered afterward that they were like her grandmother's, and +he found himself repeating, "The eye is the window of the soul." + +"My Dear, will you ask Wilkes to show Mr. Johnston to the southwest +room, and to put a fire in the grate and warm water in the pitcher?" + +"Thank you, that will not be necessary," said Percy. "I wish to see +and learn as much as possible of the country hereabout, and +particularly of the farm lands; and, if I may leave my suit-case to +be sent to my room when convenient, I shall take a walk,--perhaps a +long walk. When should I be back to supper." + +"At six or half past. My son Charles has gone to Montplain, but he +will be home for dinner. He knows the lands all about here and will +be glad, I am sure, to give you any information possible." + +With rapid strides Percy followed the private lane to the open +fields of Westover. + +"Is he a cowboy, Grandma?" asked Adelaide, in a tone which did not +suggest a very high regard for cowboys. "Anyway," she continued, +detecting a shade of disapproval in the grandmother's face, "he has +a cowboy's hat, but he doesn't wear buckskin trousers or spurs." + +Percy's hat was a relic of college life. Two years before he had +completed the agricultural course at one of the state universities +in the corn belt. Somewhat above the average in size, well +proportioned, accustomed to the heaviest farm work, and trained in +football at college, he was a sturdy young giant,--" strong as an ox +and quick as lightning," in the exaggerated language of his football +admirers + + + + + + +CHAPTER II + +FORTY ACRES IN THE CORN BELT + + + + + +PERCY JOHNSTON'S grandfather had gone west from "York State" and +secured from the federal government a 160-acre "Claim" of the rich +corn belt land. His father had received through inheritance only 40 +acres of this; and, marrying his choice from the choir of the local +Lutheran congregation, he had farmed his forty and an adjoining +eighty acres, "rented on shares," for only three years, when he was +taken with pneumonia from exposure and overwork, and died within a +week. + +Percy was scarcely a year old when his father was laid in the grave; +but to the sorrowing mother he was all that life held dear. +Existence seemed possible to her only because she could bestow upon +him her double affection, and because the double duties which she +took upon herself completely occupied her time. + +She was not in immediate financial need, for her husband had been +able to put some money in the bank during the last year, after +having paid for his "outfit;" the forty-acre farm was free from +debt, but under the law it must remain the joint property of mother +and child for twenty years. + +Wisely or unwisely she rejected every opportunity presented that +would have given Percy a stepfather. As daughter and wife she had +learned much of the art of agriculture, and, after some consultation +with a neighbor who seemed to be successful, she made her own plans. + +In her make up, sentiment was balanced with sense. Even as a young +wife she had sometimes driven the mower or the self-binder to +"help-out," and she had found pleasure and health in such hours of +out-door life. "I can work and not overwork," she said to her +friends; and in any case the crops seemed to grow better under the +eye of the mistress. + +Some years she employed a neighbor boy or girl, and always hired +such other help as she needed. Prices were sometimes low and crops +were not always good; and only widowed mothers can know the full +story of her labor, love and sacrifice. With Percy's help he was +sent to school and finally to the university, choosing for himself +the agricultural college, much to the surprise and disappointment of +his devoted mother. + +"Why," she asked, "why should my son go to college to study +agriculture? Have you not studied farming in the practical school of +experience all your life? Surely we have done as much as could be +done on our own little farm; and you have also had the benefit of +the longer experience of our best farmers hereabout, and of the +accumulated wisdom of our ancestors. Oh, I had hoped and truly +believed that you would become interested in engineering, or in +medicine, or may be in the law. I cannot understand why you should +think of going to college to study farming. Surely you already know +more than the college professors do about agriculture." + +Percy's mother had too much good sense to have raised a spoiled boy. +He had been taught to work and to think for himself. She loved her +boy far better than her own life,--loved as only a widowed mother +can who has risked her life for him, and who has given to him all +her thought and all her energy from the best twenty years of her own +life; but she had never let herself enjoy that kind of selfishness +which prompts a mother to do for her child what he should be taught +to do for himself. Despite his natural love of sport and the severe +trials he had often brought to her patience and perseverance during +his boyhood days, he had reached a development with the advance of +youth that satisfied her high ideal. His love and appreciation and +tender care for her repaid her every day, she told herself, for all +the years of watching, working, waiting. Never before had he +withstood her positive wish and final judgment. + +And yet it was she who had told him that he alone must choose his +life work and his college course in preparation for that work; but, +after the years of toil, she had not dreamed that he would choose +the farm life. + +"My darling boy," she continued, "it leads to nothing. This little +farm is poorer to-day than it was when your dear father and I came +here to live and labor. To be sure, the lower field still grows as +good or better crops than ever; but I can remember when that field +was so wet and swampy that it could not be cultivated, and it was in +the work of ditching and tiling that field," she sobbed, "that your +father took the sickness that caused his death." + +Tears were in Percy's eyes as he put his arm about his mother and +wiped her tears away. + +"But I must tell you what I know to be the truth," she went on +quickly. "The older fields that your grandfather cultivated are less +productive now than when he received them from our generous +government. Indeed, it was your father's plan to continue to farm +here only for a few years longer until he could save enough to +enable him, with what we could have gotten from the sale of our own +forty, to go farther west and purchase a large farm of virgin soil. +He realized, my Son, that even that part of his father's farm that +was first put under cultivation was becoming distinctly reduced in +productiveness. He remembered, too, the stories often repeated by +your grandfather of the run-down condition of the once exceedingly +fertile soils of the Mohawk Valley and other parts of New York +State. + +"And you know, Percy, there were many Dutch farmers settled in New +York. They were probably the best farmers among all who came to +America from the Old World. I have heard your grandfather explain +their use of crop rotation, and they understood well the value of +clover and farm fertilizers. But with all of their skill and +knowledge, the land grew poor, and now the very farm upon which +Grandpa was born is not worth as much as the actual cost of the farm +buildings. I hope you will consider all of this. The farm life is so +unpromising for you, and there are such great opportunities for +success in other lines. Still I feel that you must decide this +question for yourself my Son, but tell me why you would choose the +life and work of a farmer?" + + + + + + +CHAPTER III + +LINCOLN S VIEW OF AGRICULTURE + + + + + +PERCY had listened without interrupting, grieved at her +disappointment, and open to any reasoning that might change his +mind. + +"Mother dearest," he said, "it was a year ago that you said I would +have only till this fail to decide upon my college course and that +it should be a special preparation for my life work. I have given +much thought to it. You said that I should choose for myself, and I +have not consulted much with others, but I have tried to consider +the matter from different points of view. + +"You know the Christmas present you gave me of the Lincoln books?" + +"Yes, I know, and you have read them so much. I could not get you +many books, but I knew there could be nothing better for my boy to +read than the thoughts of that noble man. But, Percy dear, Lincoln +was a lawyer, and he rose from the lowest walk in life to the +highest position in the country, and with much less preparation than +my own boy will have. Suppose he had remained a farmer! Surely no +such success could ever have been reached. I am not so foolish as to +have any such high hopes for you. Percy; but if you can only put +yourself in the way of opportunity; and make such preparation as you +can to fill with credit some position of responsibility that may be +offered you! I had truly hoped that your study of Lincoln's life +would influence yours. To me Lincoln was the noblest of all the +noble men of our history, and I doubt not of all history, save Him +who came to redeem the world." + +Percy stepped to his little homemade bookcase and took a volume from +the Lincoln set. + +"May I read you some words of Lincoln?" he asked. + +"Oh yes," she answered wonderingly. + +"On September 30th, 1859," said Percy, "Lincoln gave an address at +Milwaukee, before the State Agricultural Society of Wisconsin, and +of all the addresses of Lincoln it seems to me that this is the +greatest, because it deals with the greatest material problem of the +United States. I think I have scarcely heard a public address in +which the speaker has not dwelt upon the fact that the farmer must +feed and clothe the world; and it seems to me that the missionaries +always speak of the famines and starvation of so many people in +India and other old countries. Do you remember the lecture by the +medical missionary? Well, would it not he better to send +agricultural missionaries to India and China to teach those people +how to raise crops? + +"I have read and reread this address more than any other in the +Lincoln set. Let me read you some of the paragraphs I have marked. + +"After making some introductory remarks about the value of +agricultural fairs, Lincoln began his address as follows: + +"'I presume I am not expected to employ the time assigned me in the +mere flattery of the farmers as a class. My opinion of them is that, +in proportion to numbers, they are neither better nor worse than +other people. In the nature of things they are more numerous than +any other class; and I believe there are really more attempts at +flattering them than any other, the reason of which I cannot +perceive, unless it be that they can cast more votes than any other. +On reflection, I am not quite sure that there is not cause of +suspicion against you in selecting me, in some sort a politician and +in no sort a farmer, to address you. + +"'But farmers being the most numerous class, it follows that their +interest is the largest interest. It also follows that that interest +is most worthy of all to be cherished and cultivated--that if there +be inevitable conflict between that interest and any other, that +other should yield. + +"'Again, I suppose that it is not expected of me to impart to you +much specific information on agriculture. You have no reason to +believe, and do not believe, that I possess it; if that were what +you seek in this address, any one of your own number or class would +be more able to furnish it. You, perhaps, do expect me to give some +general interest to the occasion, and to make some general +suggestions on practical matters. I shall attempt nothing more. And +in such suggestions by me, quite likely very little will be new to +you, and a large part of the rest will be possibly already known to +be erroneous. + +"'My first suggestion is an inquiry as to the effect of greater +thoroughness in all the departments of agriculture than now prevails +in the Northwest--perhaps I might say in America. To speak entirely +within bounds, it is known that fifty bushels of wheat, or one +hundred bushels of Indian corn, can be produced from an acre.'" + +Percy paused: "You know, Mother, that our corn has averaged some +less than fifty bushels per acre for the last five years, and, as +you say, the lower field has been much better than the old land, and +I think you are quite right in your belief that as an average the +land is growing poorer, although we cultivate better than we used to +do, and our seed corn is of the best variety and saved with much +care. But let me read further: + +"'Less than a year ago I saw it stated that a man, by extraordinary +care and labor, had produced of wheat what was equal to two hundred +bushels from an acre. But take fifty of wheat, and one hundred of +corn, to be the possibility, and compare it with the actual crops of +the country. Many years ago I saw it stated, in a patent office +report, that eighteen bushels was the average crop throughout the +United States; and this year an intelligent farmer of Illinois +assured me that he did not believe the land harvested in that State +this season had yielded more than an average of eight bushels to the +acre; much was cut, and then abandoned as not worth threshing, and +much was abandoned as not worth cutting."' + +"I know it is true," said the mother, "that wheat was once very much +grown in Central and Northern Illinois, but 1859 must have been an +unusually poor year, for it was grown for twenty years after that, +although it finally failed so completely that its cultivation has +been practically abandoned in those sections for nearly twenty +years. However, the chinch bugs were a very important factor in +discouraging wheat growing and the land has been very good for corn, +especially since the tile-drainage was put in; but on the whole is +it not as I told you?" + +"But note these statements," said Percy, turning again to the book: + +"'It is true that heretofore we have had better crops with no better +cultivation, but I believe that it is also true that the soil has +never been pushed up to one-half of its capacity. + +"'What would be the effect upon the farming interest to push the +soil up to something near its full capacity?'" + +"But what can he mean," said the mother. "How can anyone do better +than we have done? We change our crops, and sow clover with the +oats, and return as much as we can to the land. But let me hear +further what Lincoln said:" + +"Yes, Mother, this is what he said: + +"'Unquestionably it will take more labor to produce fifty bushels of +wheat from an acre than it will to produce ten bushels from the same +acre; but will it take more labor to produce fifty bushels from one +acre than from five? Unquestionably thorough cultivation will +require more labor to the acre; but will it require more to the +bushel? If it should require just as much to the bushel, there are +some probable, and several certain, advantages in favor of the +thorough practice. It is probable it would develop those unknown +causes which of late years have cut down our crops below their +former average. It is almost certain, I think, that by deeper +plowing, analysis of the soils, experiments with manures and +varieties of seeds, observance of seasons, and the like, these +causes would be discovered and remedied. It is certain that thorough +cultivation would spare half, or more than half, the cost of land, +simply because the same produce would be got from half, or from less +than half, the quantity of land. This proposition is self-evident, +and can be made no plainer by repetitions or illustrations. The cost +of land is a great item, even in new countries, and it constantly +grows greater and greater, in comparison with other items, as the +country grows older.'" + +Percy paused and said: "If I understand correctly these words of +Lincoln, the land need not become poor. But I do not know why land +becomes poor. I do not know what the soil contains, nor do I know +what corn is made of. We plow the ground and plant the seed and +cultivate and harvest the crop, but I do not know what the corn +crop, or any crop, takes from the soil. I want to learn how to +analyze the soil and crop and to find out, if possible, why soils +become poor, in order, as Lincoln suggests, that the cause may be +discovered and remedied." + +"It may be that the college professors could teach you in that way," +said the mother, "but you know the farm life is so full of work and +so empty of mental culture." + +"I used to think so too," said Percy, "but I fear we have worked too +much with our hands and too little with our minds; that we have done +much work in blindness as to the actual causes that control our crop +yields; and that we have not found the mental culture that may be +found in the farm life. Let me read again. These are Lincolns words: + +"'No other human occupation opens so wide a field for the profitable +and agreeable combination of labor with cultivated thought, as +agriculture. I know nothing so pleasant to the mind as the discovery +of anything that is at once new and valuable--nothing that so +lightens and sweetens toil as the hopeful pursuit of such discovery. +And how vast and how varied a field is agriculture for such +discovery! The mind, already trained to thought in the country +school, or higher school, cannot fail to find there an exhaustless +source of enjoyment. Every blade of grass is a study; and to produce +two where there was but one is both a profit and a pleasure. And not +grass alone. but soils, seeds, and seasons--hedges, ditches, and +fences--draining, droughts, and irrigation--plowing, hoeing, and +harrowing--reaping, mowing, and threshing--saving crops, pests of +crops, diseases of crops, and what will prevent or cure +them--implements, utensils, and machines, their relative merits, and +how to improve them--hogs, horses, and cattle--sheep, goats and +poultry--trees, shrubs, fruits, plants, and flowers--the thousand +things of which these are specimens--each a world of study within +itself. + +"'In all this book learning is available. A capacity and taste for +reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by +others. It is the key, or one of the keys, to the already solved +problems. And not only so; it gives a relish and facility for +successfully pursuing the unsolved ones. The rudiments of science +are available, and highly available. Some knowledge of botany +assists in dealing with the vegetable world--with all growing crops. +Chemistry assists in the analysis of soils, selection and +application of manures, and in numerous other ways. The mechanical +branches of natural philosophy are ready help in almost everything, +but especially in reference to implements and machinery. + +"'The thought recurs that education--cultivated thought--can best be +combined with agricultural labor, on the principle of thorough work; +that careless, half-performed, slovenly work makes no place for such +combination; and thorough work, again, renders sufficient the +smallest quantity of ground to each man; and this, again, conforms +to what must occur in a world less inclined to wars and more devoted +to the arts of peace than heretofore. Population must increase +rapidly, more rapidly than in former times, and ere long the most +valuable of all arts will be the art of deriving a comfortable +subsistence from the smallest area of soil. No community whose every +member possesses this art, can ever be the victim of oppression in +any of its forms. Such community will be alike independent of +crowned kings, money kings, and land kings.'" + + + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +LIFE'S CHOICE + + + + + +PERCY read these words as though they were his own; and perhaps we +may say they were his own, for, as Emerson says: "Thought is the +property of him who can entertain it." + +The mother listened, first with wonder; then with deepened interest, +which changed to admiration for the language and for her son, who +seemed to be filled with the spirit which had led Lincoln to see the +problems and the possibilities of the farm life in a light that was +wholly new. + +"Surely those are noble thoughts," she said, "from a noble and wise +man. I shall only hope that you will find some opportunity to make +the best possible of your life. We have such a small farm, and the +land hereabout is all so high in price that to enlarge the farm +seems almost hopeless. In part because of this difficulty it had +seemed to me that greater opportunities might be open for you in +other lines. Don't you feel that you will be greatly handicapped in +the beginning?" + +"Perhaps," said Percy, "in some ways; but not in other ways. We hear +on every hand that this is an age of specialists, that the most +successful man cannot take time to prepare himself well for many +different lines of work; that he must make the best possible +preparation in some one line for which he may have special talent or +special interest; and then endeavor to go farther in that line than +any one has gone before. When I first wrote to the State University +I asked how long a time would likely be required for me to complete +all the subjects that are taught there, and the registrar replied +that, if I could carry heavy work every year, I might hope to take +all the courses now offered in about seventy years. In considering +this point of preparation for future work, it has seemed to me that +if I leave the farm life and devote myself to law or to engineering, +I must in large measure sacrifice about ten years of valuable +experience in practical agriculture. I have learned enough about +farming so that I can manage almost as well as the neighbors; and +without this knowledge, gathered, as you say, in the school of +experience, I can see that serious mistakes would often be made. + +"You know that Doctor Miller bought the Bronson farm two years ago. +Well, he has been giving some directions himself concerning its +management. He has had no experience in farming, and last year, +after he had the new barn built, he directed his men to put the +sheaf oats in the barn so they would be safe from the weather. He +did not understand that oats must stand in the shock for two or +three weeks to become thoroughly "cured" before they can safely be +even stacked out of doors; and the result was that his entire oat +crop rotted in the barn. + +"People who have lived always in the city sometimes express the most +amusing opinions of farm conditions so well understood even by a +ten-year-old country boy. I recently overheard two traveling men +remarking about the differences which they could plainly observe +between the corn crops in different fields as they rode past in the +train. + +"'Some fields have twice as good corn as other adjoining fields,' +one remarked. 'How do you account for the difference,' asked the +other. 'oh, I suppose the one farmer was too stingy of his seed,' +was the reply. + +"I am convinced that there are hundreds or perhaps thousands of +valuable facts that have been acquired through experience and +observation by the average farm boy of eighteen or twenty years that +would be of little or no value to him in most other occupations; and +in this respect I should be handicapped if I leave the farm life and +begin wholly at the bottom in some other profession. Perhaps +agriculture is not a profession, but I think it should be if the +highest success is to be attained." + +"I surely hope you will be successful, Percy, and your reasoning +sounds all right; but other occupations seem to lead to greater +wealth than farming." + +"I very much doubt," replied Percy, "if there is any other +occupation that is so uniformly successful as farming, in the truest +sense. It provides constant employment, a good living, and a +comfortable home for nearly all who engage in it; and as a rule they +have made no such preparation as is required for most other lines of +work. + +"But there is still another side to the farm life, Mother dear, or +to any life for that matter. Your own life has taught me that to +work for the love of others is a motive which directs the noblest +lives. If agricultural missionaries are needed in India, they are +also needed in parts of our own country where farm lands that were +once productive are now greatly depleted and in some cases even +abandoned for farming; and. if the older lands of the corn belt are +already showing a decrease in productive power, we need the +missionary even here. If I can learn how to make land richer and +richer and lead others to follow such a system, I should find much +satisfaction in the effort." + + + + + + +CHAPTER V + +WORN OUT FARMS + + + + + +"WELL, you found some mighty poor land, I reckon," was the greeting +Percy received from Grandma West as he returned from his walk over +Westover and some neighboring farms. + +"I found some land that produces very poor crops," he replied, "but +I don't know yet whether I should say that the land is poor." + +"Well, I know it's about as poor as poor can be; but it was not +always poor, I can tell you. When I was a girl, if this farm did not +produce five or six thousands bushels of wheat, we thought it a poor +crop; but now, if we get five or six hundred bushels, we think we +are doing pretty well. My husband's father paid sixty-eight dollars +an acre for some of this land, and it was worth more than that a few +years later and, mind you, in those days wheat was worth less and +niggers a mighty sight more than they are nowadays; but, somehow, +the land has just grown poor. We don't know how. We have worked +hard, and we have kept as much stock as we could, but we could never +produce enough fertilizer on the farm to go very far on a thousand +acres. + +"Yes, Sir, we have just about a thousand acres here and we still own +it,--and with no mortgage on it, I'm mighty glad to say. But, laws, +the land is poor, and you can get all the land you want about here +for ten dollars an acre. There comes Charles, now. He can tell you +all about this country for more than twenty miles, I reckon. + +"Wilkes!" A negro servant answered the call, and took the horse as +Charles West stopped at the side gate. + +"Wilkes was born here in slave times, nigh sixty years ago," she +continued. "He is three years older than my son Charles. He has +remained with us ever since the war, except for a few months when he +went away one time just to see for sure that he was free and _could +_go. But he came back mighty homesick and he'll want to stay here +till he dies, I reckon. + +"Charles, this is Mr. Johnston, Percy Johnston, as he says; but he +thinks he is no kin of General Joe or Albert Sidney. He's been +looking at the land hereabout, but I don't think he'll want any of +it after seeing the kind of crops we raise." + +With this introduction, the mother disappeared within the house, and +Charles took her seat on the vine-covered veranda. + +"I feel that I owe an apology to you, Sir," said Percy, "for +presenting myself here with bag and baggage, and asking to share the +hospitality of your home, with no previous arrangements having been +made; but by chance I met your friend, Doctor Goddard, on the train, +and, in answer to my inquiry as to whom I could go to for correct +information concerning the history and present condition and value +of farm lands in this section of the country, he advised me to stop +off at Blue Mound Station and consult with you. Had I known that you +were to be in Montplain to-day, of course I should have gone +directly there. Your mother very graciously consented to receive me +as a belated summer boarder, a kindness which I greatly appreciate, +I assure you. + +"My mother and I have a small farm in Illinois,--so small that it +would be lost in such an estate as Westover, but the price of land +is very high in the West at the present time; and I am really +considering the question of selling our little forty-acre farm and +purchasing two or three hundred acres in the East or South. My +thought is that I might secure a farm that was once good land, but +that has been run down to such an extent that it can be bought for +perhaps ten or twenty dollars an acre. I should want the land to be +nearly level so that it would not be difficult to prevent damage +from surface washing. I should prefer, of course, to purchase where +there is a good road and not more than five miles from a railway +station. + +"If I secure such a farm, it would be my purpose to restore its +fertility. If possible I should want to make the land at least as +productive as it ever was, even in its virgin state." + +"Well, Sir," said Mr. West, "if you could accomplish your purpose +and ultimately show a balance on the right side of the ledger, it +would be a work of very great value to this country. There will be +no difficulty in securing such land as you want with location and +price to suit you; but I think that you should know in advance that +older men than you have purchased farms hereabout with very similar +intentions, but with the ultimate result that they have lost more, +financially, than we who are native to the soil; for, while we were +once well-to-do and are now poor, we still own our land, +impoverished as it is. However, the farm still furnishes us a +comfortable living, supplemented, to be sure, with some income from +other sources. + +"I am very willing to give as much information as I can regarding +our lands and the agricultural conditions and common practices, +although I fear that this knowledge will discourage you from making +any investments in our worn-out farms. If you still decide to make +the trial, I surely hope you will be successful, for we need such an +object lesson above all else. + +"I assume that you will wish to locate near a town of considerable +size, in order that you can haul manures from town, and perhaps some +feed also; and have a good market for your milk and other products." + +"No, Sir," said Percy, "I should prefer not to engage in dairying, +and I do not wish to make use of fertilizer made from my neighbors' +crops. We have some object lessons of that kind in my own state; and +I have no doubt that some can be found in this state who feed all +they produce on their own land and perhaps even larger amounts of +feed purchased from their neighbors, or hauled from town, and who, +in addition to using all of the farm fertilizer thus produced, haul +considerable amounts of such materials from the livery stables in +town. With much hard work, with a good market for the products of +the dairy and truck garden, and with business skill in purchasing +feed from their neighbors when prices are low, such men succeed as +individuals; but do they furnish an object lesson which could be +followed by the general farmer?" + +"I had not looked at the matter from that point of view," said Mr. +West, "but it is plain to see that on the whole there can be only a +small percentage of such farmers; and in reality they are a +detriment to their neighbors who permit their own hay and grain to +be hauled off from their farms; but certainly these are the methods +followed by our most successful farmers, and these are they who live +on the fat of the land." + +"Are they farmers or are they manufacturers?" asked Percy. "It seems +to me that, in large measure, their business is to manufacture a +finished product from the raw materials produced upon other farms, +either in the immediate neighborhood or in the newer regions of the +West. As you know, much of our surplus produce from the farms of the +corn belt is shipped into the eastern and southern states, there to +be used as food for man and beast, not only in the cities, but also +to a considerable extent in the country. Instead of living on the +fat of the land, such manufacturers live in the country at the +expense of special city customers who may have fat jobs and are able +to pay fancy prices for country produce made by the impoverishment +of many farms. In most cases, if such a 'successful farmer' were +compelled to pay average prices for what he buys and allowed to +receive only average prices for what he sells, his fat would have +plenty of lean streaks." + + + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE MUSICALE + + + + + +DINNER was served at the family table, with Mr. West at the head and +his mother at the foot. + +"The eye is the window of the soul," thought Percy, as he met the +glance of Adelaide sitting opposite. Certain he was that he had +never before looked into such alluring eyes. + +Adelaide was neither a girl nor a woman and yet at times she was +both. With the other children she was a child that still loved to +romp and play with the rest, free as a bird. Her mother, a +sweet-faced woman, some years her husband's junior, made sisters of +all her daughters, the more naturally perhaps, because the +grandmother was still so active and so interested in all phases of +homemaking that she seemed mother to them all. Adelaide's two older +sisters were married and her brother Charles, also older than +herself, by three years, was a senior in college. Adelaide had just +finished her course in the Academy where the long service of a +maiden aunt as a teacher had secured certain appreciated privileges, +without which it is doubtful if both Charles and Adelaide could have +been sent away to school at the same time. A boy of fourteen and the +eight-year old baby brother with two sisters between comprised the +younger members of the family. + +Miss Bowman, the teacher of the district school, also occupied a +place at the table. The evening meal was disposed of without delay, +for there was something of greater importance to follow. A musicale +in the near-by country church had been in preparation and Percy +heartily accepted an invitation to accompany the family to the +evening's entertainment. Or rather he accompanied Mr. and Mrs. West +and the grandmother, for all the children had walked the distance +before the carriage arrived. + +Without having specialized in music, nevertheless Percy had improved +the frequent opportunities he had had, especially while at the +university, and he had learned to appreciate quality in the musical +world. Consequently he was not a little surprised and greatly +pleased to sit and listen to a class of music that he had never +before heard rendered in country places; but, as he listened for +Adelaide's singing in chorus, duet, and solo, he found himself +wondering whether the eye or the voice more clearly revealed the +soul. + +"It seemed like the old times," said the grandmother, with something +like a sigh, as she took her place in the carriage. "If our land was +only like it used to be! but it's become so mighty poor our children +can't have many advantages these days. The Harcourt's and Staunton's +whom you met are descendants of ancestors once well known in this +state." + +"It seems to me that the land need not have grown poor," said +Percy. "If the land was once productive, its fertility ought to be +maintained by the return of the essential materials removed in crops +or destroyed by cultivation. Surely land need not become poor; but +of course I know too little about this land to suggest at the +present time what method could best be adopted for its improvement." + +"We can tell you what the best method is," she quickly replied. +"Just put on plenty of ordinary farm fertilizer, but, laws, we don't +have enough to cover fifty acres a year." + +For a time each seemed lost in thought, or listening to the husband +and wife who sat in the front seat quietly talking of the evening's +performances. Percy recognized some of the names they mentioned as +belonging to persons to whom he had been presented at the church. It +gradually dawned upon him that he had spent the evening with the +aristocracy of the Blue Mound neighborhood. Culture, refinement, and +poverty were the chief characteristics of the people who had been +assembled. + +"It need not have been," he repeated to himself; "surely, it need +not have been, "and then he wondered if these were not much sadder +words than the oft repeated "it might have been." + +"May I ask where your people came from, Mrs. West?" he questioned. + +"Where we came from?" she repeated, "I don't quite understand." + +"Excuse me," said Percy, "but in the West it is so common to ask +people where they are from. You know the West is settled with people +from all sections of the East, and many from Europe and from Canada, +and I thought your ancestors may have moved here from some other +state, as from Pennsylvania for example, where my mother's people +once lived." + +"Let me advise you, Young Man," said the grandmother briskly, and in +a tone that reminded Percy of the twinkle he had at times noticed in +her eyes when she seemed young again--"Let me advise you never to +ask a Virginian if he was born in Pennsylvania. That's more than +most Virginians can stand. Once a Virginian, always a +Virginian,--both now, hereafter, and hitherto. It's mighty hard to +find a Virginian who came from anywhere except from the royal blood +of England; although some may condescend to acknowledge kinship to +the Scottish royalty." + +The grandmother's voice was raised to a pitch which commanded the +attention of the other members in the carriage and a hearty laugh +followed her jovial wit, to the full relief of Percy's temporary +embarrassment. + +"Well," she continued, "to answer your question: my husband and my +children are direct descendants of Colonel Charles West, a brother +of Lord Delaware, who was Sir Thomas West, whose ancestry goes back +to Henry the Second, of England, and to David the First, of +Scotland; and my granddaughter is the great-granddaughter of Patrick +Henry. So now you know where _we _came from," and she laughed again +like a girl. "Yes," she added, "we have a family tree six feet from +branch to branch, but it is stored in a back room where I am sure it +is covered with cobwebs, for we have no time to live with the past +when the summer boarders are here." + +As the carriage stopped at the side gate, the children's voices +could be heard in the rear; for Mr. West had been living over again +his younger days with his sweet-faced wife, and the farm team had +taken its own time. + + + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A BIT OF HISTORY + + + + + +"NOW, I shall be at home to-day and glad to assist you in any way +possible," announced Mr. West at the breakfast table. + +"That is very kind of you," Percy replied. "I want especially to +learn some of the things you know about the soils of Westover. Can +you show me the best land and the poorest land on the estate?" + +"I think I can." said Mr. West. "We have some land that has not +grown a crop in fifty years, and we have other land that still +produces a very fair crop if properly rotated." + +"And what rotation do you practice?" + +"Well, the system we have finally settled into and have followed for +many years is to plow up the run-out pasture land and plant to corn. +The second year we usually raise a crop of wheat or oats and seed +down to clover and timothy. We then try to cut hay from the land for +two years, and afterward we use the field for pasture for six or +eight years, or until finally it produces only weeds and foul grass. +Then we cover it with farm manure, so far as we can, and again plow +the land for corn. Wheat and cattle are the principal products sold +from the farm." + +"In this way," said Percy, "you grow one crop of corn on the same +field about once in ten or twelve years." + +"Yes, about that, and also one, or sometimes two, crops of small +grain. We usually have about seventy-five acres of corn, nearly a +hundred acres of small grain, and we cut hay from somewhat more than +hundred acres, thus leaving perhaps five hundred acres of pasture +land, besides about two hundred acres of timber land which has not +been cultivated for many years." + +"Was the timber land that we see about here formerly cultivated?" +asked Percy. + +"Oh, yes, nearly all of it was under cultivation when I was a boy, +although some had been allowed to go back to timber even before I +was born. On our own farm we have some timber land that, so far as I +have been able to learn, was never under cultivation; and the +character of the trees is different on that land. There you will +find original pine, but on the worn-out land the 'old-field' pine +are found. They are practically worthless, while the original pine +makes very valuable lumber. + +"With our system of rotation we keep about all of our farm under +control; but the smaller farms were necessarily cropped more +continuously to support the family, and they became so unproductive +that many of them have been completely abandoned for agricultural +purposes; and even some of the large plantations were poorly +managed, one part having been cropped continuously until too poor to +pay for cropping, while the remainder was allowed to grow up in +scrub brush and 'old-field' pine; and, of course, the expense of +clearing such land is about as much as the net value of the crops +that could be grown until it again becomes too poor for cropping." + +"Then the recleared lands are not as productive as when they were +first cleared from the virgin forest?" + +"Oh, by no means. In the virgin state these lands grew bountiful +crops almost continuously for a hundred years or more. Virginia was +famed at home and abroad for her virgin fertility. Great crops of +corn, wheat, and tobacco were grown. Tobacco was a valuable export +crop, and there were many Virginians whose mothers came to America +with passage paid for in tobacco. History records, you may remember, +that it was the custom for a time to permit a young man to pay into +a general store house a hundred pounds of tobacco,--and this was +later increased to one hundred fifty pounds,--to be used in payment +of passage for young women who were thus enabled to come to America; +and there was a very distinct understanding that only those who had +come forth with the tobacco were eligible as suitors for the hand of +any 'imported' maiden. As a matter of fact some such arrangement as +this was almost a necessity," said Mr. West, as he noted Adelaide's +almost incredulous look. "Among the first settlers in Virginia, +young men greatly predominated; and in the main the people in the +home country were themselves in poverty. Under the hereditary laws +of England the father's estate and title became the possession of +his eldest son; and in large measure the other children of the +family were thrown absolutely upon their own resources, so that +many, even with royal blood in their veins, were very glad to +embrace any opportunity offered to seek a new home in this land of +virgin richness. + +"Of course," he continued, smilingly and in direct answer to +Adelaide's inquiring look, "those young women were in no sense bound +to accept the attention or the offer of any man; but naturally most +of them did become the wives of those who were able to offer them a +husband's love and a home with more of life's comforts perhaps than +they had ever known before. They were at perfect liberty, however, +to remain in the enjoyment of single blessedness if they chose, and +I doubt not," he added, with a twinkle in his eyes, "that some of +them had no other choice." + + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +WESTOVER + + + + + +WITH an auger in his hand, by means of which a hole could be quickly +bored into the soil to a depth of three or four feet, Percy joined +Mr. West for the tramp over the plantation. + +In general the estate called Westover consists of undulating upland. +A small stream crosses one corner of the farm bordered by some +twenty acres of bottom land which is subject to frequent overflow, +and used only for permanent 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 subject to moderate erosion when +not protected by vegetation. Above and between these slopes the +upland is nearly level. As they came upon one of these level areas, +grown up with small forest trees, Mr. West stopped and said: + +"Now right here is probably as poor a piece of land as there is on +the farm. This land will positively not grow a crop worth harvesting +unless it is well fertilized." + +"If we were in the Illinois corn belt," replied Percy, "I should +expect to find the land in this position to be the most productive +on the farm. Our level uplands are now valued at from one hundred +fifty to two hundred dollars an acre. A farm of one hundred eighty +acres, five miles from town, sold for two hundred and fourteen +dollars an acre a few days before I started east." + +"Well," said Mr. West, "this may have been good land once, but if so +it was before my time. Of course most of our uplands here have been +cropped 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 crops. To be sure, the farm manure has always been used +as far as it would go, but the supply is really very small compared +to the need for it." + +"Do you think that the proper rotation of crops would maintain the +fertility of the soil?" asked Percy. + +"No, I have tried too many rotations to think that, but I suppose it +is a help in that direction, don't you?" + +"I would say that crop rotation may help to maintain the supply of +some important constituents of a fertile soil, but it will certainly +hasten the depletion of some other equally essential constituents." + +"Well, that's a new idea to me. I may not quite grasp your meaning; +but first tell me about these tests you are making." + +When they stopped on the area of poor land as designated by Mr. +West, Percy had turned his auger into the earth and drawn out a +sample of moist soil, which he molded into the form 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 formed it into a cake with a +hollow in the upper surface. He took from his pocket a slender box +or tube of light wood, removed the screw cap, and drew out a +glass-stoppered bottle. + +"This bottle contains hydrochloric acid," said Percy. "It is often +incorrectly called 'muriatic acid.' It consists of two elements, +hydrogen and chlorin, from which its name is derived. But you are +perhaps already familiar with the chemical elements." + +"Well, I heard lectures at William and Mary for four years, and they +included some chemistry as it was then taught; but they certainly +did not include 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 my own eyes. You may take it for +granted that I know absolutely nothing of such use of chemistry as +you are evidently turning to some practical value." + +"Any other farmer can make these tests as well as I can," said +Percy. "This bottle of acid cost me fifteen cents and it can be +duplicated for the same price at almost any drug store. 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 the fingers, although it +is not at all dangerous to handle, but it tends to burn the fingers +unless soon removed, either by washing with water or by rubbing it +off with the moist soil." + +"I use this acid to test the soil for the presence or absence of +limestone. Ordinary limestone consists of calcium carbonate. Here, +again the chemical 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 common chemical names signifies +the presence of oxygen Thus calcium carbon_ate_ is composed of the +three primary elements, calcium, carbon and oxygen. + +"Of course the chemical element is the simplest form of matter. An +element is a primary substance which cannot be divided into two or +more substances All known matter consists of about eighty of these +primary elements; and, as a matter of fact, most of these are of +rare occurence--many of them much more rare than the element gold. + +"About ninety-eight per cent. of the soil consists of eight elements +united in various compounds or combinations; and only ten elements +are essential for the growth 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, or a leaf +of clover; and in the main the supply is under the farmer's own +control. But we can discuss this matter more fully later. Let us see +what we have here." + +Percy poured a few drops of the hydrochloric acid into the hollow of +the cake of soil. + +"What should it do?" asked Mr. West. + +"If the soil contains any limestone, the acid should produce +foaming, or effervescence," replied Percy; "but it is very evident +that this soil contains no limestone. You see the hydrochloric acid +has power to decompose calcium carbonate 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. Now, the liberated carbon dioxid is a gas and the rapid +generation or evolution of this gas constitutes the bubbling or +foaming we are looking for; but since there is no appearance of +foaming we know that this soil contains no limestone." + +"Then you have already found that those three elements,--calcium, +carbon, and oxygen, you called them, I think--you find that those +elements are all lacking in this soil." + +"No, this test does not prove that," said Percy. "It only proves +that they are not present as limestone. Calcium may be present in +other compounds, especially in silicates, which are the most +abundant compounds in the soil and in the earth's crust; and, as +indicated by the ending _-ate, _oxygen is contained in calcium +silicate as well as in calcium carbonate." + +"I see; the subject is much more complicated than I thought." + +"Somewhat, perhaps," Percy replied; "but yet it is quite simple and +very easily understood, if we only keep in mind a few well +established facts. Certainly the essential 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 +issues, and reciprocity advantages, regarding which most farmers are +fairly well informed,--at least to such an extent that they can +argue these questions for hours." + +"I think you are quite right in that," said Mr. West. "Of course, it +is important that every citizen entitled to the privilege of voting +in a democracy like ours should be able to exercise his franchise +intelligently; but the citizen 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 +reach; and from what you say I am beginning to believe that such is +the case. At any rate this simple test seems to show conclusively +that this soil contains no limestone, and it is common knowledge +that limestone soils are good soils." + +Percy took up the ball of soil containing the slip of blue paper, +broke it in two again, and it was seen that the paper had changed in +color from blue to red + +"There's a change, for certain," said Mr. West, "that has some +meaning to you I suppose." + +"This is litmus paper," said Percy. "It is prepared by moistening +specially prepared paper with a solution of a coloring matter called +litmus, and the paper is 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 a trace of alkali, +and the red paper with a trace of acid. If more than a trace were +present the litmus paper would not be sufficiently sensitive for the +test. + +"This little bottle containing two dozen slips of paper cost me five +cents, and it can be obtained at most drug stores. + +"Alkali and acid are exactly opposite terms, like hot and cold. The +one neutralizes the other. This test with litmus paper is a test for +soil acidity, and the fact that the moisture of the soil has turned +the litmus 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 color; and the fact that the paper remains red +even after drying, shows that the soil contains fixed acids or acid +salts, and not merely carbonic acid, which if present would +completely volatilize as the paper dries. + +"Now, these two tests are in harmony. The one shows the absence of +limestone, and the other shows the presence of acidity, and +consequently the need of limestone to correct or neutralize the +acidity, for limestone itself is an alkali." + +"But limestone soils are not alkali soils, are they?" asked Mr. +West. + +"Not in the sense of containing injurious alkali, like sodium +carbonate, the compound which is found in the 'black alkali' lands +of the arid regions of the far West; but chemically considered +limestone is truly an alkali; and, as such, it has power to +neutralze this soil acidity." + +"Is the acidity harmful to the crops?" + +"It is not particularly harmful to the common crops of the grass +family, such as wheat, corn, oats, and timothy; but some of the most +valuable crops for soil improvement will not thrive on acid soils. +This is especially true of clover and alfalfa." + +"That is certainly correct for clover so far as this kind of soil is +concerned," said Mr. West. "Clover never amounts to much on this +kind of land, except where heavily fertilized. When fertilized it +usually grows well. Does the farm fertilizer neutralize the acid?" + +"Only to a small extent. It is true that farm manures contain very +appreciable amounts of lime and some other alkaline, or basic, +substances, but in addition to this, and perhaps of greater +importance, is the fact that such fertilizer has power 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 would not otherwise be made available +although to that extent the farm manure serves as a soil stimulant, +this action tending not toward soil enrichment but toward the +further depletion of the store of fertility still remaining in the +soil." + +"This seems a complicated problem," said Mr. West, "but may I now +show you some of our more productive land?" + +"As soon as I collect a sample of this," replied Percy, and to Mr. +West's surprise he proceeded to bore about twenty holes in the space +of two or three acres. The borings were taken to a depth of about +seven inches, and after being thoroughly mixed together an average +sample of the lot was placed in a small bag bearing a number which +Percy recorded in his note book together with a description of the +land. + +"I wish to have an analysis made of this sample," remarked Percy, as +they resumed their walk. + +"But I thought you had analyzed this soil," was the reply. + +"Oh, I only tested for limestone and acidity," explained Percy. "I +wish to have exact determinations made of the nitrogen and +phosphorus, and perhaps of the potassium, magnesium, and calcium. +All of these are absolutely essential for the growth of every +agricultural plant; and any one of them may be deficient in the +soil, although" the last three are not so likely to be as the other +two." + +"How long will it take to make this analysis?" was asked. + +"About a week or ten days. Perhaps I shall collect two or three +other samples and send them all together to an analytical chemist. +It is the 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 invoice of the stock of fertility in the soil, just as +truly as the merchant can take an invoice of the stock of goods +carried on his shelves." + +"So far as we are concerned, this would not be an invoice in +advance," remarked Mr. West, with a shade of sadness in his voice. +"If 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 +invoice, I fear, of what the virgin soil contained; but can you +compare the invoice of the soil with that of the merchant's goods?" + +"Quite fairly so," Percy replied. "The plant food content of the +plowed soil of an acre of normal land means nearly, if not quite, as +much in the making of definite plans for a system of permanent +agriculture, as the merchant's invoice means in the future plans of +his business. + +"It should not be assumed that the analysis of the soil will give +information the application of which will always assure an abundant +crop the following season. In comparison, it may also be said, +however, that the merchant'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; while the merchant plants and +harvests every day, or at least every week. But I would say that the +invoice of the soil is worth as much to the farmer for the next year +as the merchant's invoice is to him for the next month. + +"It should be remembered, however, that both must look forward, and +plans must be made by the merchant for several months, and by the +farmer for several years. Your 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 not +practiced some such system of rotation now have 'old-field' pine on +land long since abandoned, and soil too poor to cultivate on land +long cropped continuously." + +"This is a kind soil," remarked Mr. West, as he paused on a gently +undulating part of the field. + +"That is a new use of the word to me," said Percy. "Just what do you +mean by a 'kind' soil?" + +"Well, if we apply manure here it will show in the crop for many +years. It is easy to build this soil up with manure; but, of course, +we have too little to treat it right." + +"The soil is almost neutral," said Percy, testing with litmus and +acid. "Does clover grow on this soil?" + +"Very little, except where we put manure." + +Another composite sample of the soil was collected, and they walked +on. + +"Now, here," said Mr. West, "is about the most productive upland on +the farm." + +"Is that possible?" asked Percy, the question being directed more to +himself than to his host. + +"That is according to my observation for about fifty years," he +replied. "Where we spread the farm fertilizer over this old pasture +land and plow it under for corn, we often harvest a crop of eight +barrels to the acre, while the average of the field will not be more +than five barrels.--A barrel of corn with us is five bushels." + +They had stopped on one of the steepest slopes in the field. + +"These hillsides would be considered the poorest land on the farm if +we were in the corn belt," said Percy, "but I think I understand the +difference. Your level uplands when once depleted remain depleted, +because the soil 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 afford the conditions for a +permanent system of agriculture of low grade, unless, of course, the +erosion is more rapid than the disintegration of the underlying bed +rock, which I note is showing in some outcrops in the gullies. + +"I want some samples here," he continued, and at once proceeded to +collect a composite sample of the surface soil and another of the +sub-soil. + +"In the main this soil is slightly acid," said Percy, after several +tests, with the hydrochloric acid and the litmus paper; "although +occasionally there are traces of limestone present. The mass of soil +seems to be faintly acid, but here and there are little pieces of +limestone which still produce some localized benefit, and probably +prevent the development of more marked acidity throughout the soil +mass. + +"If I can get to an express office this afternoon," he continued, "I +shall be glad to forward these four composite samples to an +analyst." + +"If you wouldn't mind riding to Montplain with Adelaide when she +goes for her music lesson this afternoon, it would be very +convenient," said Mr. West. + +"With your daughter's permission that would suit me very well," he +replied. "I shall be glad to spend one or two days more in this +vicinity, and then I wish to visit other sections for a week or two, +after which I would be glad to stop here again on my return trip and +probably I shall have the report of the chemist concerning these +samples." + + + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE BLACK PERIL + + + + + +AS Percy stepped out of the house in the early afternoon upon the +announcement from Wilkes that "De ca'age is ready," he noted that +the "ca'age" was the two-seated family carriage and that Adelaide +had already taken her place in the front seat, as driver, with her +music roll and another bundle tucked in by her side. Her glance at +Percy and at the rear seat was also sufficient to indicate his +place. + +"This does not seem right to me, Miss West," said Percy. "Unless you +prefer to drive I shall be very glad to do so and let you occupy +this more comfortable seat." + +"No thank you," she replied, in a tone that left no room for +argument. "I often drive our guests to and from the station, and I +much prefer this seat." + +The rear seat was roomy and low, so that Percy could scarcely see +the road ahead even by sitting on the opposite side from the driver. + +Aside from an occasional commonplace remark both the driver and the +passenger were allowed to use the time for meditation. + +While Adelaide was already an experienced horsewoman, she was rarely +permitted to drive the colts to the village, although she enjoyed +riding the more spirited horses, or driving with her brother in the +"buck board." + +A mile from the village the road wound through a wooded valley, and +then climbed the opposite slope, passing the railway station a +quarter of a mile from town and the "depot hotel" near by. Here +Percy left the carriage with the bags of soil, it being arranged +that he would be waiting at the hotel when Adelaide returned from +the village. + +Adelaide's "hour" was from four to five, and being the last pupil +for the day, the teacher was not prompt to close. + +"I did not realize the days were becoming so short," said Miss +Konster as she opened the door. "I'm sorry you have so far to +drive." + +"Oh, I don't mind," said Adelaide, "I know the way home well enough. +You see I have the double carriage, for I brought a guest to the +depot as usual, although he is to return with me, and is probably +very tired of waiting at the 'depot hotel.'" + +It was nearly dark as Percy took his place in the rear seat, +Adelaide having again declined to yield her position as driver, and +now she had more packages nearly filling the seat beside her. + +The team leisurely took the homeward way and nothing more was said +except an occasional word of encouragement to the horses. They +passed the lowest point in the valley and began to ascend the gentle +slope, when the carriage suddenly stopped, and Adelaide uttered a +muffled scream. "Come, Honey, said a masculine voice." + +As Percy half rose to his feet, he saw that a negro had grasped +Adelaide in an effort to drag her from the carriage. A blow from +Percy staggered the brute and he released his hold of Adelaide, but, +as he saw Percy jump from the carriage on the opposite side, he +paused. + +"De's a man heah. Knock him, Geo'ge," he yelled, as he turned to +again grapple with Adelaide + +"Coward," cried Adelaide, as she saw Percy jump from the carriage +and dart up the road. Facing this black brute, she was standing +alone now with one hand on the back of the seat. As the negro sprang +at her the second time he uttered a scream like the cry of a beast +and fell sprawling on his face. Almost at the same moment his +companion was fairly lifted from his feet and came down headlong +beside the carriage. + +"Look out for the horses," called Percy, as he drove the heels of +his heavy shoes into the moaning mass on the ground. + +"Lie there, you brute," he cried, "don't you dare to move." + +"I have the lines," said Adelaide hoarsely, "but can't I do +something more?" + +"No. they're both down," he answered. "Wait a minute." + +He found himself between the negroes lying with their faces to the +ground. Instantly he grasped each by the wrist and with an inward +twist he brought forth cried for mercy. It was a trick he had +learned in college, that, by drawing the arm behind the back and +twisting, a boy could control a strong man. + +"Can't I help you?" Adelaide called again, and Percy saw that she +was out of the carriage and standing near. + +"Will the horses stand?" he asked. + +"Oh, yes, they're quiet now." + +"Then take the tie rope and tie their feet together. Use the slip +knot just as you do for the hitching post," he directed. "If they +dare to move I can wrench their arms out in this position. Right +there at the ankles. Tie them tight and as closely together as you +can. Wrap it twice around if it's long enough." + +Adelaide tied one end of the rope around the ankle of one negro and +wrapped the other end around the ankle of the other, drawing their +feet together and fastening the ends of the rope with a double +hitch, which she knew well how to make. + +Percy gave the rope a kick to tighten it. + +"Now get onto your feet and I'll march you to town," he ordered, +adding pressure to the twist upon their wrists and drawing them back +upon their knees Thus assisted, they struggled to their feet. + +"I am afraid you will have to drive home alone, Miss West," began +Percy, when Adelaide interrupted with: + +"No, no, if you are going back to town, I will follow you. I can +easily turn the team and I will keep close behind." + +Thus tied together, Percy almost ran his prisoners toward the +village, still holding each firmly by the wrist. As they reached the +"depot hotel," he called for assistance, and several men quickly +appeared. + +Percy made a brief report of the attack as they moved on to the town +house, where the villians were placed in shackles and left in charge +of the marshall. + +"Will you drive, please, Mr. Johnston?" asked Adelaide as he stepped +to the carriage; for Adelaide had followed almost to the door of the +jail house. + +"Yes, please," he replied, taking the seat beside her. + +"I hope you will pardon my calling you a coward, I felt so +desperate, and it seemed to me for the moment that you were leaving +me." Adelaide's voice still had an excited tremor to it. + +"I heard you say 'coward,'" said Percy, "but I didn't realize that +you referred to me. I saw the two brutes almost at the same time, +the one who attacked you and the other on the same side near the +horses' heads. I struck the one as best I could from my position, +and as he yelled and the horses reared, I ran up the slope ahead of +the team and came down at the other brute with a blow in the neck, +but I was surprised to find them both sprawling on the ground; and +under the street lights I saw that one of them had an eye +frightfully jammed. I am sure I struck neither of them in the eye." + +Adelaide made no reply, but she knew now that the piercing, beastly +cry from the negro reaching for her was brought forth because the +heel of her shoe had entered the socket of the brute's eye. + +"You're mighty nigh too late for supper, said grandma West, as they +stopped at the side gate. Adelaide hurried to her father who took +her in his arms as he saw how she trembled. + +"My child!" he said. + +Yes, child she was as she relaxed from the tension of the last hour +and related the experience of the evening. + +"I cannot express our gratitude to you, Sir," said Mr. West: "I am +glad you landed the devils in jail." + +"I am only thankful I was there when it happened," replied Percy. "I +am sure no man could have done less. I have promised to return to +town in the morning to serve as legal witness in the case. I hope +your daughter need not be called upon for that." + +"Probably that will not be necessary," Mr. West replied. + + + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE SLAVE AND THE FREEDMAN + + + + + +THE others had retired but Percy and his host continued their +conversation far into the night. + +"There are almost as great variations among the negroes as among +white people," Mr. West was saying. "To a man like Wilkes who was +born and raised here on the farm, I would entrust the protection of +my wife and children as readily as to any white man. He has been +educated, so to speak, to a sense of duty and honor; and negroes of +his class have almost never been known to violate a trust. Of course +there are bad niggers, but as a rule such negroes have grown up +under conditions that would develop the evil in any race of men. + +"During the Secession it was the most common thing for the men to go +to war and leave their defenseless women and children wholly in the +care of their slaves; and, even though the federal soldiers were +fighting to free the slaves and their masters to keep them in +slavery, rarely did a negro fail to remain faithful to his trust. +They hid from the northern soldiers the horses and mules, cotton and +corn, clothing and provisions, and all sorts of valuables; and in +most cases were ready to suffer themselves before they would reveal +the hidden property. To be sure there were masters who abused their +slaves, and some of these were naturally ready to desert at the +first opportunity; but in the main the slave owner was more kind to +his human property than the considerate soldier was to his horse, +and the negro as a race is appreciative of kindness." + +"I suppose the depreciation in soil fertility and crop yields dates +largely from the freeing of the slaves does it not?" asked Percy. + +"Well, that was one factor, but not the most potential factor. Much +land in the south had been abandoned agriculturally long before the +war, and much land in New York and New England has been abandoned +since the war. The freeing of the negroes produced much less effect +in the economic conditions of the south than many have supposed. The +great injury to the South from the war was due to the war itself and +not to the freeing of slaves. In the main it cost no more to hire +the negro after the war than it cost to feed and clothe him before; +and the humane slave owner had little difficulty in getting plenty +of negro help after the war. Very commonly his own slaves remained +with him and were treated as servants, not particularly differently +than they had been treated as slaves. Of course there were some +brutal slave holders, just as there are brutal horse owners, and +such men suffered very much from the loss of slave labor. + +"The southern people have no regrets for the freeing of the slaves. +Probably it was the best thing that ever happened to us; and the +South would have less regret for the war itself, except that our +recovery from it was greatly delayed by the reconstruction policy +which was followed after the war. The immediate enfranchisement of +the negro, especially in those sections where this resulted in +placing all the power of the local government in the hands of the +negro, was a worse blow to the South than the war itself. + +"It is believed that this would not have been done if Lincoln had +lived. Lincoln was always the President of all the people of the +United States, and his death was a far greater loss to the South +than to the North. To place the power to govern the intelligent +white of the South absolutely in the hands of their former ignorant +slaves was undoubtedly the most abominable political blunder +recorded in history; and even this was intensified by the +unprincipled white-skinned vultures who came among us to fatten upon +our dead or dying conditions. Those years of so-called +reconstruction, constitute the blackest page in the history of +modern civilization." + +"I quite agree with you," said Percy, "and so far as I know them the +soldiers of the northern armies also agree with you. Several of my +own relatives fought to free the negro slave; but none of them +fought to enslave their white brothers of the South by putting them +absolutely under negro government. And yet there is one possible +justification for that abominable reconstruction policy. It may have +averted a subsequent war which might have lasted not for four years, +but for forty years. Even if this be true, perhaps there is no +credit in the policy for any man who helped to enforce it, but you +will grant that there were two important results from those bitter +years of reconstruction: + +"First, the negro learned with certainty at once and forever that he +was a free man. + +"Second, he at once acquired a degree of independence effectually +preventing the development of a situation throughout the South, in +which the negro, though nominally free, would have remained +virtually a slave, a situation which, if once established, might +have required a subsequent war of many years for its complete +eradication. Even under the conditions which have prevailed, there +have been isolated instances of peonage in the southern states since +the war; and if the education and gradual enfranchisement of the +negro had been left wholly in the hands of their former masters, +from the immediate close of the war, I can conceive of conditions +under which slavery would essentially have been continued." + +"Such a possibility is, of course, conceivable," said Mr. West, "and +we must all admit that there were some slave holders who would have +taken advantage of any such opportunity; but had Lincoln lived the +terms made would probably have been such that the South would have +felt in honor bound to enforce them. Probably the enfranchisement +would have been based upon some sort of qualification such as the +southern states have very generally adopted in subsequent years; but +the idea of social equality of slave and master was so repulsive to +the white people of the South that it could not be tolerated under +any sort of government." + +"This question of social equality," remarked Percy, "has probably +been the cause of more misunderstanding between the North and the +South than all other questions relating to the negro problem. I have +rarely, if ever, talked with a southern man who did not have it +firmly fixed in his mind that the common idea of the northern people +is that the negro race should be made the social equal of the white +race. This I have heard from southern lecturers; I have read it in +southern newspapers; and I have found it in books written by +southern authors; but, Mr. West, I have never yet heard that idea +advanced by a man or woman of the North. + +"Of course there have been visionary theorists or 'cranks' in all +ages, and there must have been some basis for this almost universal +erroneous opinion in the South that the people of the North +advocated social equality or social intercourse between the white +and colored races; and yet nothing could be farther from the truth. +In all my life in the North, I think I have never seen a colored +person dining with a white man. This does not prove that there are +no such occurrences, but it certainly shows that they are extremely +rare. On the other hand, in traveling through the South I have seen +a white woman bring her colored maid or nurse, to the dining car and +sit at the same table with herself and husband. Of course there is +no suggestion of social equality or social intercourse in this, but +there is a much closer relationship than is common or would be +allowed in the North." + +"That may be true," said Mr. West, "and there was in slave times a +very intimate relationship between the negro nurses and the white +children of the South. Some of our people are ready to take offense +at the suggestion that we talk negro dialect, and perhaps we would +all prefer to say that the negroes have learned to talk as we talk; +but the truth is that the negroes were brought to America chiefly as +adults; and, as is usually the case when adult people learn a new +language, they modified ours because their own African language did +not contain all of the sounds of the English tongue. Similarly we +hear and recognize the other nationalities when they learn to speak +English. Thus we have the Irish brogue, the German brogue, and the +French brogue, or dialect. + +"The negro children learned to speak the dialect as spoken by their +own parents; and as a very general rule the white children learned +to talk as their negro nurses talked. So far as there is a southern +dialect it is due to the modification of our language by the negro." + +"You have mentioned several things," said Percy, "that are much to +the credit of the negro who has had a fair chance to be trained +along right lines; and I think the modficaton of our language which +his presence has brought about in the South is not without some +credit. It is generally agreed that the most pleasing English we +hear is that of the Southern orator. + +"Referring to social conditions, the most marked difference which I +have noticed between the North and South, and really, it seems to +me, the only difference of importance, is that the South has +separate schools for white and colored, whereas in the North the +school is not looked upon as a social institution. + +"As a rule no more objection is raised to white and colored children +sitting on separate seats in the same school room than to their +sitting on separate seats in the same street car. The school is +regarded as a place for work, where each has his own work to do, +much the same as in the shop or factory where both white and colored +are employed. The expense of the single school system is, of course, +much less than where separate schools are maintained; and perhaps an +equally important point is that in the single system the same moral +standards are held up by the teachers for both white and colored +children." + +"That point is worthy of consideration," said Mr. West. "It is very +certain that a class of negroes has grown up in these more recent +years that was practically unknown in slave times when white men +were more largely responsible for their moral training. The vile +wretches who made the attack this evening probably never received +any moral training. It is conceivable that the moral influence of +the white children over the negroes in the same school might exert a +lasting benefit, even aside from the influence of the teacher; and +the relationship of the school room could not be any real +disadvantage to the white child. But this could only be brought +about where white teachers were employed. Some such arrangement +would doubtless have been made had the mind of Lincoln directed the +general policy of reconstruction; but it is doubtful now if the +negro teacher will ever be wholly replaced, although time has +wrought greater changes in political lines since the black years of +the reconstruction." + +"Yes," said Percy, "and those changes which have been brought about +in the South have the full sympathy and approval of the great +majority of the Northern people. Indeed, it is extremely doubtful if +the North will be able to completely banish such a source of vice +and corruption as the open saloon until limitation is placed upon +the franchise by an educational qualification." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +JUDGMENT IS COME + + + + + +THE goddess of sleep seemed to have deserted Westover. Adelaide lay +in her mother's arms, either awake and restless or in fitful sleep +from which she frequently awoke with a muffled scream or a physical +contortion. Once, as she nestled closer, her mother heard her +murmur: "You must pardon me." + +Percy, from the southwest room, was sure he heard horses feet at the +side gate. The murmur of low voices reached his ear, and then he +recognized that horsemen were riding away. + +The house was astir at early dawn; and as soon as breakfast was over +Mr. West had the colts hitched to the "buckboard" and he drove with +Percy to Montplain. + +"I think your testimony will not be needed this morning," said Mr. +West, "but it may be needed later, and it is well that you should +report to the officers at any rate, since you promised to be there +this morning." + +Percy pointed out the place where the attack had been made, and he +looked for a stump of a small tree or for any other object upon +which the negro could have fallen with such force as to mash his +eye; but he saw nothing. + +As soon as they reached the village, Mr. West drove directly to the +town house; and there two black bodies were seen hanging from the +limb of an old tree in the courthouse yard. Percy noted that his +companion showed no sign of surprise; and, after the first shock of +his complete realization of the work of the night, he looked calmly +upon the scene. They had stopped almost under the tree. + +"Are these the brutes who made the attack and whom you captured and +delivered to the officer?" asked Mr. West. + +"They are," he replied. + +"In your opinion have they received justice?" + +"Yes, Sir," Percy replied, "but I fear without due process of law." + +"Let me tell you, Sir, there is no law on the statutes under which +justice could be meted out to these devils for the nameless crime +which ends in death by murder or by suicide of the helpless victim, +a crime which these wretches committed only in their black +hearts--thanks to you, Sir." + +As he spoke, the town marshall approached followed by the negro +pastor of the local church and a few of his followers. Silently they +lowered the bodies to the ground, placed them upon improvised +stretchers, and carried them to the potters field outside the +village, where rough coffins and graves were ready to receive them. + +As Mr. West and Percy returned to Westover they discussed the lands +which in the main were lying abandoned on either side of the road. + +"Here," said Mr. West, as he paused on the brow of a sloping +hillside, "was as near to Westover as the Union army came. The +position of the breastworks may still be seen. The Southern army lay +across the valley yonder. These two trees are sprouts from an old +stump of a tree that was shot away. About seventeen hundred +confederate dead were buried in trenches in the valley, but they +were later removed. The federal dead were carried away as the Union +army retreated. We never learned their number. For three days +Westover was made headquarters of the confederate officers, and my +mother worked day and night to prepare food for them." + +They stopped at Westover for a few moments, Percy remaining in the +"buckboard" while Mr. West reported to his family what they had seen +in Montplain. + +"Our report," said Mr. West, "hideous and horrible as it is, will +help to restore the child to calm and quiet. To speak frankly, Sir, +occurrences of this sort, sometimes with the worst results, are +sufficiently frequent in the South so that we constantly feel the +added weight or burden whenever the sister, wife, or daughter is +left without adequate protection." + +The remaining hours of the morning were devoted to a drive over the +country surrounding Westover; and Mr. West consented to Adelaide's +request that she be allowed to drive Percy to the station at +Montplain, where he was to take the afternoon train for Richmond. +She chose the "buckboard" but insisted upon driving. + +They talked of their school and college days, of the books they had +read, of anything in fact except of the experiences of the past +twenty-four hours. Even when they entered the valley no shadow +crossed Adelaide's face; but as they neared the station her voice +changed, and as Percy looked into her winsome, frankly upturned +face, she said: + +"Have I truly been pardoned for my cruel words last evening? I am +sure you were as manly and noble as any man could have been." + +"And I am sure you were the bravest little woman I have ever known," +replied Percy, "and I admire you the more for calling me a coward +when you thought I was running away; so there is nothing to pardon I +am sure." + +She gave him her hand as a child at parting, but he thought as he +looked into her eyes that he saw the soul of a woman. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE RESTORATION + + + + + +PERCY carried with him a most interesting and attractive circular of +information concerning the rapid restoration of the farm lands of the +South. It also stated that further information could be secured from a +certain real estate agent in Richmond, who was found to be still in his +office when Percy arrived in the city late in the afternoon. + +The agent was delighted to receive a call from the Western man, and +assured him that he would gladly show him several plantations not far +from the city which could be purchased at very reasonable prices. Indeed +he could have his choice of these old southern homesteads for the very +low price of forty dollars an acre. A map of an adjoining county showed +the exact location of several such farms, some of which were of great +historical interest. At what time in the morning could he be ready to be +shown one of these rare bargains? + +"What treatment do these lands require to restore their productiveness?" +asked Percy. + +"No treatment at all, Sir, except the adoption of your western methods +of farming and your system of crop rotation. I tell you the results are +marvelous when western farmers get hold of these famous old plantations. +Just good farming and a change of crops, that's all they need." + +"Does clover grow well?" asked Percy. "We grow that a good deal in the +West." + +"Oh, yes, clover will grow very well, indeed, but cowpeas is a much +better crop than clover. Our best farmers prefer the cowpea; and after a +crop of cowpeas, you can raise large crops of any kind." + +"Of course you know of those who have been successful in restoring some +of these old farms," Percy suggested. + +"Oh, yes, Sir, many of them, and they are making money hand over fist, +and their lands are increasing in value, and no doubt will continue to +increase just as your western lands have done. Yes, Sir, the greatest +opportunity for investment in land is right here and now, and these old +plantations are being snapped up very rapidly." + +"I shall be glad to know of some of these successful farmers who are +using the improved methods. Will you name one, just as an example, and +tell me about what he has done to restore his land?" + +"Well," said the agent, "There's T. O. Thornton, for example. Mr. +Thornton bought an old plantation of a thousand acres only six years ago +at a cost of six dollars an acre. He has been growing cowpeas in +rotation with other crops; and, as I say, he is making money hand over +fist. A few months ago he refused to consider fifty dollars an acre for +his land, but still there are some of these old plantations left that +can be bought for forty dollars, because the people don't really know +what they are worth. However, our lands are all much higher than they +were a few years ago." + +"Where does Mr. Thornton live?" asked Percy. + +"Oh, he lives at Blairville, nearly a hundred miles from Richmond. Yes, +he lives on his farm near Blairville. I tell you he's making good all +right, but I don't know of any land for sale in that section." + +"I think I will go out to Blairville to see Mr. Thornton's farm," said +Percy. "Do you know when the trains run?" + +"Well, I'm sorry to say that the train service is very poor to +Blairvile. There is only one train a day that reaches Blairville in +daylight, and that leaves Richmond very early in the morning." + +"That is all right," said Percy, "it will probably get me there in time +so that I shall be sure to find Mr. Thornton at home. I thank you very +much, Sir. Perhaps I shall be able to see you again when I return from +Blairville." + +"When you return from Blairville is about the most uncertain thing in +the world. As I said, the train service is mighty poor to Blairville, +and it's still poorer, you'll find, when you want to leave Blairville. +Why, a traveling man told me he had been on the road for fifteen years, +and he swore he had spent seven of 'em at Blairville waiting for trains. +Better take my advice and look over some of the fine old plantations +right here in the next county and then you can take all the rest of the +month if you wish getting in and out of Blairville." + +About eight o'clock the following morning Percy might have been seen +walking along the railroad which ran through Mr. Thornton's farm about +two miles from Blairvile. He saw a well beaten path which led from the +railroad to a nearby cottage and a knock brought to the door a negro +woman followed by several children. + +"Can you tell me where Mr. Thornton's farm is?" he inquired. + +"Yes, Suh," she replied. "This is Mistah Tho'nton's place, right heah, +Suh. Leastways, it was his place; but we done bought twenty acahs of it +heah, wheah we live, 'cept tain all paid fo' yit. Mistah Tho'nton lives +in the big house over theah 'bout half a mile." + +"May I ask what you have to pay for land here?" + +"Oh, we have to pay ten dollahs an acah, cause we can't pay cash. My ol' +man he wo'ks on the railroad section and we just pay Mistah Tho'nton foh +dollahs every month. My chil'n wo'k in the ga'den and tend that acah +patch o' co'n." + +"Do you fertilize the corn?" + +"Yes, Suh. We can't grow nothin' heah without fe'tilizah. We got two +hundred pounds fo' three dollahs last spring and planted it with the +co'n." + +As Percy turned in at Mr. Thornton's gate he saw a white man and two +negroes working at the barn. "Pardon me, but is this Mr. Thornton?" +asked Percy as he approached. + +"That is my name." + +"Well, my name is Johnston. I am especially interested in learning all I +can about the farm lands in this section and the best methods of +farming. I live in Illinois, and have thought some of selling our little +farm out there and buying a larger one here in the East where the land +is much cheaper than with us. A real estate agent in Richmond has told +me something of the progress you are making in the improvement of your +large farm. I hope you will not let me interfere with your work, Sir." + +"Oh, this work is not much. I've had a little lumber sawed at a mill +which is running just now over beyond my farm, and I am trying to put a +shed up here over part of the barn yard so we can save more of the +manure. I shall be very glad to give you any information I can either +about my own farming or about the farm lands in this section." + +"You have about a thousand acres in your farm I was told." + +"Yes, we still have some over nine hundred acres in the place, but we +are farming only about two hundred acres, including the meadow and +pasture land. The other seven hundred acres are not fenced, and, as you +will see, the land is mostly grown up to scrub trees." + +"Your corn appears to be a very good crop. About how many acres of corn +do you have this year?" + +"I have only fourteen acres. That is all I could cover with manure, and +it is hardly worth trying to raise corn without manure." + +"Do you use any commercial fertilizer?" + +"Well, I've been using some bone meal. I've no use for the ordinary +complete commercial fertilizer. It sometimes helps a little for one +year; but it seems to leave the land poorer than ever. Bone meal lasts +longer and doesn't seem to hurt the land. I see from the agricultural +papers that some of the experiment stations report good results from the +use of fine-ground raw rock phosphate; but they advise using it in +connection with organic matter, such as manure or clover plowed under. I +am planning to get some and mix it with the manure here under this shed. +Do you use commercial fertilizers in Illinois?" + +"Not to speak of, but some of our farmers are beginning to use the raw +phosphate. Our experiment station has found that our most extensive soil +types are not rich in phosphorus, and has republished for our benefit +the reports from the Maryland and Ohio experiment stations showing that +the fine-ground natural rock phosphate appears to be the most economical +form to be used and that it is likely to prove much more profitable in +the long run, although it may not give very marked results the first +year or two. May I ask what products you sell from your farm, Mr. +Thornton?" + +"I sell cream. I have a special trade in Richmond, and I ship my cream +direct to the city. I also sell a few hogs and some wheat. I usually put +wheat after corn, and have fourteen acres of wheat seeded between the +corn shocks over there. Sometimes I don't get the wheat seeded, and then +I put the land in cowpeas. I usually raise about twenty-five acres of +cowpeas, and the rest of the cleared land I use for meadow and pasture. +I usually sow timothy after cowpeas, and I like to break up as much old +pasture land for corn as I can put manure on." + +"I was told that you had been offered fifty dollars an acre for your +farm, Mr. Thornton, but that you would not consider the offer." + +Mr. Thornton laughed heartily at this remark. + +"That must have come from the Richmond land agent," he said. "Someone +else was telling me that story a short time ago. The fact is one of +those real estate agents was out here last spring and he asked me if I +would consider an offer of fifty dollars an acre for our land. I told +him that I didn't think that I would as long as any one who wishes to +buy can get all the land he wants in this section for five or ten +dollars an acre. That's as near as I came to having an offer of fifty +dollars an acre for this land. The land adjoining me on the south is is +for sale, and I am sure you could buy that farm of about seven hundred +acres for four dollars an acre after they get the timber off. Some of +the land has not been cropped for a hundred years, I guess; and there +are a few trees on it that are big enough for light saw-stuff. A man has +bought the timber that is worth cutting, and he is running a saw over +there now; but he'll get out all that's good for anything in a few +months." + +"May I ask how long you have been farming here, Mr. Thornton?" + +"Twelve years on this farm," he replied. "You see this estate was left +to my wife and her sister who still lives with us. We were married +twelve years ago and I have been working ever since to make a living for +us on this old worn-out farm. Of course I have made some little +improvements about the barns, but we've sold a little land too. The +railroad company wanted about an acre down where that little stream +crosses, for a water supply, and I got twelve hundred dollars for that." + +"Now, I've already taken too much of your time," said Percy. "I thank +you for your kindness in giving me so much information. If there is no +objection I shall be glad to take a walk about over your farm and the +adjoining land, and perhaps I can see you again for a few moments when I +return." + +"Certainly," Mr. Thornton replied. "There is no objection whatsoever. We +are going to Blairville this morning, but we shall be back before noon +and I shall be glad to see you then. I fear you have been given some +misinformation by the real estate agents. Some of them, by the way, are +Northern men who came down here and bought land and when they found they +could not make a living on it, they sold it to other land hunters, and I +suppose that they made so much in the deal that they stayed right here +as real estate agents. They are great advertisers; but I reckon our +Southern real estate men can just about keep even. The agent who was out +here last spring told me he showed one Northern man a farm for $12 an +acre and he was afraid to buy. Then he took him into another county and +showed him a poorer farm for $45 and he bought that at once. + +"The road there runs out through the fields. Our land runs back to the +other public road and beyond that is the farm I told you of where the +saw mill is running. I've got some pretty good cowpeas you'll pass by. I +haven't got them off the racks yet." + +Percy found the cowpea hay piled in large shocks over tripods made of +short stout poles which served to keep the hay off the ground to some +extent, and this permitted the cowpeas to be cured in larger piles and +with less danger of loss from molding. + +"I find that the soil on your farm and on the other farm is very +generally acid," said Percy a few hours later when Mr. Thornton asked +what he thought of the condititons of farming. "Have you used any lime +for improving the soil?" + +"Yes, I tried it about ten years ago, and it helped some, but not enough +to make it pay. I put ten barrels on about three acres. I thought it +helped the corn and wheat a little, and it showed right to the line +where I put cowpeas on the land, but I don't think it paid, and it's +mighty disagreeable stuff to handle." + +"Do you remember how much it cost?" Percy asked. + +"Yes, Sir. The regular price was a dollar a barrel, but by taking ten +barrels I got the ton for eight dollars; but I'd rather have eight +dollars' worth of bone meal." + +"I think the lime would be a great help to clover," said Percy. + +"Yes, that might be. They tell me that they used to grow lots of clover +here; but it played out completely, and nobody sows clover now, except +occasionally on an old feed lot which is rich enough to grow anything. +It takes mighty good land to grow clover; but cowpeas are better for us. +They do pretty well for this old land, only the seed costs too much, and +they make a sight of work, and they're mighty hard to get cured. You see +they aren't ready for hay till the hot weather is mostly past. If we +could handle them in June and July, as we do timothy we'd have no +trouble; but we don't get cowpeas planted till June, and September is a +poor time for haying." + +"It seems to me that clover is a much more satisfactory crop," said +Percy. "One can sow clover with oats in the spring, or on wheat land in +the late winter, and there is no more trouble with it until it is ready +for haying about fifteen months later, unless the land is weedy or the +clover makes such a growth the first fall that we must clip it to +prevent either the weeds or the clover from seeding. This means that +when you are planting your ground for cowpeas the next year after wheat +or oats, we are just ready to begin harvesting our clover hay; and +besides the regular hay crop we usually have some growth the fall before +which is left on the land as a fertilizer, and then we get a second crop +of clover which we save either for hay or seed. Even after the seed crop +is harvested there is usually some later fall growth, and some let the +clover stand till it grows some more the next spring and then plow it +under for corn." + +"I can see that clover would be much better than cowpeas if we could +grow it; but, as I said, it's played out here. Our land simply won't +grow it any more. Not having to plow for clover would save a great deal +of the work we must do for our cowpeas." + +"Some of our farmers follow a three-year rotation and plow the ground +only once in three years," said Percy. "They plow the ground for corn, +disk it the next spring when oats and clover are seeded, and then leave +the land in clover the next year. In that way they regularly harvest +four crops, including the two clover crops, from only one plowing; and +in exceptional seasons I have known an extra crop of clover hay to be +harvested in the late fall on the land where the oats were grown. + +"In regard to the lime question," Percy continued, "I wonder if you know +of the work the Pennsylvania Experiment Station has been doing with the +use of ground limestone in comparison with burned lime." + +"No, I never heard of ground limestone being used. I supposed it had to +be burned. I should think it would be very expensive to grind +limestone." + +"No, it costs much less to grind it than to burn it," Percy replied. +"Mills are used for grinding rock in cement manufacture, and the rock +phosphate and bone meal must all be ground before using them either for +direct application or for the manufacture of acidulated fertilizers; and +limestone is not so hard to grind as some other rocks. Furthermore it +does not need to be so very finely ground. If fine enough so that it +will pass through a sieve with ten meshes to the inch it does very well. +That you see would be a hundred meshes to the square inch; and, of +course, a great deal of it will be much finer than that. In fact the +ground limestone used in the Pennsylvania experiments was only fine +enough so that about ninety per cent. of it would pass a sieve with ten +meshes to the inch, and yet the limestone gave decidedly better results +than the burned lime, and it is not nearly so disagreeable to handle. +Besides this, the ground limestone is much less expensive. It can be +obtained at most points in Illinois for about a dollar and fifty cents a +ton." + +"A dollar and fifty cents a ton!" exclaimed Mr. Thornton. "Well, that is +cheap, but how about the freight and the barrels and bags? Freight is a +big item with us." + +"The dollar and fifty cents includes the freight," was the reply. + +"Includes the cost and the freight both?" + +"Yes, and the Illinois farmers have it shipped in bulk, so there is no +expense for barrels or bags. Of course the supplies of both coal and +limestone are very abundant, and with a well-equipped plant the actual +cost of grinding does not exceed twenty-five cents a ton. The original +cost of the material ground and on board cars at the works varies from +about sixty cents to one dollar a ton, and this leaves a very fair +margin of profit. + +"The men who furnish the ground limestone realize that very large +quantities of it are needed if the soils of Illinois are to be kept +fertile, and they also realize that the ultimate prosperity of the +country depends upon agricultural prosperity. Their far-sightedness and +patriotism combine to lead them to try to sell carloads of limestone +instead of tons of burned lime. As a matter of fact five or ten dollars +profit on a car of limestone, the use of which in large quantities is +thus made possible in systems of positive soil improvement, is very much +better for all concerned than a profit of half that much on a single ton +of burned lime which is used as a soil stimulant in systems of soil +exhaustion." + +"It is certainly true," said Mr. Thornton, "that all other great +industries depend upon agriculture, directly or indirectly. I have +thought of it many times. It seems to me that fishing is about the only +exception of importance." + +Mr. Thornton requested that Percy remain for lunch in order that they +might return to the field to let him see the soil acidity tests made. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +WHY PERCY WENT TO COLLEGE + + + + + +"I AM interested to know where you learned these things about acid +soils and lime and limestone," said Mr. Thornton. + +"Mostly in the agricultural college," replied Percy, "but much of +the information really comes from the investigations that are +conducted by the experiment stations. For example, the best +information the world affords concerning the comparative value of +burned lime and ground limestone is furnished by the Pennsylvania +Agricultural Experiment Station. Those experiments have been carried +on continuously since 1882, and the results of twenty years' careful +investigations have recently been published. A four-year rotation of +crops was practiced, including corn, oats, wheat, and hay, the hay +being clover and timothy mixed. With every crop the limestone has +given better results than the burned lime. In fact the burned lime +seems to have produced injurious results of late years, and the +analysis of the soil shows that there has been large loss of humus +and nitrogen where the burned lime has been used, the actual loss +being equivalent to the destruction of more than two tons of farm +manure per acre per annum." + +"Well, we surely need this information," said Mr. Thornton. "I have +always supposed that the teachers in the agricultural college knew +little or nothing of practical farming." + +"I did not go to college to learn practical farming, if we mean by +that the common practice of agriculture," replied Percy. "I already +knew what we call practical farming; that is, how to do the ordinary +farm work, including such operations as plowing, planting, +cultivating, and harvesting; but it seems to me, Mr. Thornton, that +this sort of practical farming has resulted in practical ruin for +most of these Eastern lands. The fact is there is a side to +agriculture that I knew almost nothing about as a so-called +practical farmer, and I am coming to believe that what we commonly +call practical farming is often the most impractical +farming,--certainly this is true if it ultimately results in +depleted and abandoned lands. The truly practical farmer is the man +who knows not only how to do, but also what to do and why he does +it. The Simplon railroad tunnel connecting Switzerland with Italy is +twelve miles long,--the longest in the world. It was dug from the +two ends, but under the mountain, six miles from either end, the two +holes came together exactly, within a limit of error of less than +six inches, and made one continuous tunnel twelve miles long. Now, +this was not all accomplished by the practical men who knew how to +handle a spade in digging a ditch. The work was controlled by +science, and it was known in advance what the results would be. I do +not mean that it was known how hard the digging would be, nor how +much trouble would be caused by caving or by water; but it was known +that if the practical work was done, the final outcome would be +successful. + +"I think it is even more important that we understand enough of the +sciences which underlie the practice of agriculture so we may know +in advance that when the practical farm work is done the soil will +be richer and better rather than poorer and less productive because +of our impractical farming. + +"As I said, I did not go to the agricultural college to learn the +practice or art of farming; I went to learn the science of +agriculture; but, as a matter of fact, I found the college professor +knew about as much of practical agriculture as I did and a great +deal of science that I did not know. I found that the Dean of the +college, who is also Director of the Experiment Station, had been +born and raised on the farm, had done all kinds of farm work, the +same as other farm boys, had gone through an agricultural college, +and after his graduation had returned to the farm and remained there +for ten years doing his own work with his own hands. He has had as +much actual farm experience as you have had, Mr. Thornton, and ten +years more than I have had. He was finally called from the farm to +become an assistant in the college from which he was graduated, and +in a few years he was advanced to head professor in agriculture. +About ten years ago he was made dean and director of the +agricultural college and experiment station in my own state; and I +have been told that he will not recommend any one for a responsible +position in an agricultural college unless he has had both farm +experience and scientific training. He and most of his associates +are owners of farms and would return to them again if they did not +feel that they are of more service to agriculture as teachers and +investigators." + +"I am very glad to know about this," said Mr. Thornton. "Certainly +your opinion, based upon such knowledge as you have of your own +college, is worth more than all the common talk I have ever heard +from those who never saw an agricultural college. I wish you would +tell me something more in regard to what crops are made of and about +the methods of making land better even while we are taking crops +from it every year." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A LESSON IN FARM SCIENCE + + + + + +"THE subject is somewhat complicated," Percy replied, "yet it +involves no more difficult problems than have been solved in many +other lines. The chief trouble is that we have done too little +thinking about our own real problems. Even in the country schools we +have learned something of banking and various other lines of +business, something of the history and politics of this and other +countries, something of the great achievements in war, in discovery +and exploration, in art, literature, and invention; but we have not +learned what our soils contain nor what our crops require. Not one +farmer in a hundred knows what chemical elements are absolutely +required for the production of our agricultural plants, and one may +work hard on the farm from four o'clock in the morning till nine +o'clock at night for forty years and still not learn what corn is +made of. + +"All agricultural plants are composed of ten chemical elements, and +the growth of any crop is absolutely dependent upon the supply of +these plant food elements. If the supply of any one of these plant +food elements is limited, the crop yield will also be limited. The +grain and grass crops, such as corn, oats, wheat, and timothy, also +the root crops and potatoes, secure two elements from the air, one +from water, and seven from the soil. + +"The supply of some elements is constantly renewed by natural +processes, and iron, one of the ten, is contained in all normal +soils in absolutely inexhaustible amount; while other elements +become deficient and the supply must be renewed by man, or crop +yields decrease and farming becomes unprofitable. + +"Matter is absolutely indestructible. It may change its form, but +not a pound of material substance can be destroyed. Matter moves in +cycles, and the key to the problem of successful permanent +agriculture is the circulation of plant food. While some elements +have a natural cycle which is amply sufficient to meet all +requirements for these elements as plant food, other elements have +no such cycle, and it is the chief business of the farmer to make +these elements circulate. + +"Take carbon, for example. This element is well represented by hard +coal. Soft coal and charcoal are chiefly carbon. The diamond is pure +crystallized carbon, and charcoal made from pure sugar is pure, +uncrystallized carbon. This can easily be made by heating a lump of +sugar on a red hot stove until only a black coal remains. Now these +different solid materials represent carbon in the elemental form or +free state. But carbon may unite with other elements to form +chemical compounds, and these may be solids, liquids, gases. + +"Thus carbon and sulfur are both solid elements, one black and the +other yellow, as generally found. If these two elements are mixed +together under ordinary conditions no change occurs. The result is +simply a mixture of carbon and sulfur. But, if this mixture is +heated in a retort which excludes the air, the carbon and sulfur +unite into a chemical compound called carbon disulfid. This compound +is neither black, yellow, nor solid; but it is a colorless, limpid +liquid; and yet it contains absolutely nothing except carbon and +sulfur." + +"That seems strange," remarked Mr. Thornton. "Yes, but similar +changes are going on about us all the time," replied Percy. "We put +ten pounds of solid black coal in the stove and an hour later we +find nothing there, except a few ounces of ashes which represent the +impurities in the coal." + +"Well, the coal is burned up and destroyed, is it not?" + +"The carbon is burned and changed, but not destroyed. In this case, +the heat has caused the carbon to unite with the element oxygen +which exists in the air in the form of a gas, and a chemical +compound is formed which we call carbon dioxid. This compound is a +colorless gas. This element oxygen enters the vent of the stove and +the compound carbon dioxid passes off through the chimney. If there +is any smoke, it is due to small particles of unburned carbon or +other colored substances. + +"As a rule more or less sulfur is contained in coal, wood, and other +organic matter, and this also is burned to sulfur dioxid and carried +into the air, from which it is brought back to the soil in rain in +ample amounts to supply all of the sulfur required by plants. + +"Everywhere over the earth the atmosphere contains some carbon +dioxid and this compound furnishes all agricultural plants their +necessary supply of both carbon and oxygen. In other words, these +are the two elements that plants secure from the air. The gas, +carbon dioxid, passes into the plant through the breathing pores on +the under side of the leaves. These are microscopic openings but +very numerous. A square inch of a corn leaf may have a hundred +thousand breathing pores." + +"Now, as we go on, I am especially anxious to get at this question +of supply and demand," said Mr. Thornton. "I think I understand +about iron and sulfur, and also that these two elements, carbon and +oxygen, are both contained in the air in the compound called carbon +dioxid, and that this must supply our crops with those two elements +of plant food. I'd like to know about the supply. How much is there +in the air and how much do the crops require?" + +"As you know," said Percy, "the atmospheric pressure is about +fifteen pounds to the square inch." + +"Yes, I've heard that, I know." + +"Well, that means, of course, that there are fifteen pounds of air +resting on every square inch of the earth's surface; in other words, +that a column of air one inch square and as high as the air goes, +perhaps fifty miles or more, weighs fifteen pounds." + +"Yes, that is very clear." + +"There is only one pound of carbon in ten thousand pounds of +ordinary country air. Now, there are one hundred and sixty square +rods in an acre, and since there are twelve inches in a foot and +sixteen and one-half feet in a rod, it is easy to compute that there +are nearly a hundred million pounds of air on an acre, and that the +carbon in this amounts to only five tons. A three-ton crop of corn +or hay contains one and one-fourth tons of the element carbon; so +that the total amount of the carbon in the air over an acre of land +is sufficient for only four such crops; while a single crop of corn +yielding a hundred bushels to the acre, such as we often raise in +Illinois on old feed-lots or other pieces of well treated land would +require half of the total supply of carbon contained in the air over +an acre. However, the largest crop of corn ever grown, of which +there is an established authentic record, was not raised in +Illinois, but in the state of South Carolina, in the county of +Marlborough, in the year 1898, by Z. J. Drake; and, according to the +authentic report of the official committee that measured the land +and saw the crop harvested and weighed, and awarded Drake a prize of +five hundred dollars given by the Orange Judd Publishing +Company,--according to this very creditable evidence, that acre of +land yielded 239 bushels of thoroughly aid-dried corn; and such a +crop, Mr. Thornton, would require as much carbon as the total amount +contained in the air over an acre of land." + +"Well, that is astonishing! Then there must be some other source of +supply besides the air." + +"There is no other direct source from which plants secure carbon; +but of course the air is in constant motion. Only one-fourth of the +earth's surface is land, and perhaps only one-fourth of this land is +cropped, and the average crop is about one-fourth of three tons; so +that the total present supply of carbon in the air would be +sufficient for about two hundred and fifty years. But as a matter of +fact the supply is permanently maintained by the carbon cycle. Thus +the carbon of coal that is burned in the stove returns to the air in +carbon dioxid; and all combustion of coal and wood, grass and weeds, +and all other vegetable matter returns carbon to the atmosphere. All +decay of organic matter, as in the fermentation of manure in the +pile and the rotting of vegetable matter in the soil, is a form of +slow combustion and carbon dioxid is the chief produce of such +decay. Sometimes an appreciable amount of heat is developed, as in +the steaming pile of stable refuse lying in the barnyard, while the +heat evolved in the soil is too quickly disseminated to be apparent. + +"In addition to all this, every animal exhales carbon dioxid. The +body heat and the animal force or energy are supplied by the +combustion of organic food within the body, and here, too, carbon +dioxid is the chief product of combustion. + +"Thus, as a general average, the amount of carbon removed from the +atmosphere by growing plants is no greater than the amount returned +to the air by these various forms of combustion or decay. In like +manner the supply of combined oxygen is maintained, both carbon and +oxygen being furnished to the plant m the carbon dioxid. + +"As a matter of fact, the air consists very largely of oxygen and +nitrogen, both in the free state, but in this form these elements +cannot be utilized in the growth of agricultural plants. The only +apparent exception to this is in case of legume crops, such as +clover, alfalfa, peas, beans, and vetch, which have power to utilize +the free nitrogen by means of their symbiotic relationship with +certain nitrogen-fixing bacteria which live, or may live, in +tubercles on their roots. + +"Carbon and oxygen constitute about ninety per cent. of the dry +matter of ordinary farm crops, and with the addition of hydrogen +very important plant constituents are produced; such as starch, +sugar, fiber, or cellulose, which constitute the carbohydrate group. +As the name indicates, this group contains carbon, hydrogen, and +oxygen, the last two being present in the same proportion as in +water. + +"Water is composed of the two elements, hydrogen and oxygen, both of +which are gases in the free state. Water is taken into the plant +through the roots and decomposed in the leaves in contact with the +carbon dioxid under the influence of sunlight and the life +principle. The oxygen from the water and part of that from the +carbon dioxid is given off into the air through the breathing pores, +while the carbon, hydrogen, and part of the oxygen, unite to form +the carbohydrates. These three elements constitute about ninety-five +per cent. of our farm crops, and yet every one of the other seven +plant food elements is just as essential to the growth and full +development of the plant as are these three." + +"Then so long as we have air above and moisture below, our crops +will not lack for carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. Is that the summing +up of the matter?" + +"Yes, Sir," Percy replied. + +"And those three elements make up ninety-five per cent. of our farm +crops. Is that correct?" + +"Yes, Sir, as an average." + +"Well, now it seems to me, if nature thus provides ninety-five per +cent. of all we need, we ought to find some way of furnishing the +other five per cent. It makes me think of the young wife who told +her husband she could live on bread and water, with his love, and he +told her that if she would furnish the bread he'd skirmish around +and get the water. But, say, did that South Carolina man use any +fertilizer for that immense crop of corn?" + +"Some fertilizer, yes. He applied manure and fertilizer from +February till June. In all he applied 1000 bushels (about 30 tons) +of farm manure, 600 bushels of whole cotton seed, 900 pounds of +cotton seed meal, 900 pounds of kainit, 1100 pounds of guano, 200 +pounds of bone meal, 200 pounds of acid phosphate, and 400 pounds of +sodium nitrate." + +"I would also like to know the facts about this nitrogen business," +said Mr. Thornton. "I've understood that one could get some of it +from the air, and I would much rather get it that way than to buy it +from the fertilizer agent at twenty cents a pound. Cowpeas don't +seem to help much, and we don't have the cotton seed, and we never +have sufficient manure to cover much land." + +"It is a remarkable fact," said Percy, "that of the ten essential +elements of plant food, nitrogen is the most abundant, measured by +crop requirements, and at the same time the most expensive. The air +above an acre of land contains enough carbon for a hundred bushels +of corn per acre for two years, and enough nitrogen for five hundred +thousand years; and yet the nitrogen in commercial fertilizers costs +from fifteen to twenty cents a pound. At commercial prices for +nitrogen, every man who owns an acre of land is a millionaire. + +"You mean he has millions in the air," amended Mr. Thornton. + +"Yes, that is the better way to put it," Percy admitted, "but the +fact is he can not only get this nitrogen for nothing by means of +legume crops, but he is paid for getting it, because those crops are +profitable to raise for their own value. Clover, alfalfa, cowpeas, +and soy beans are all profitable crops, and they all have power to +use the free nitrogen of the air. + +"There are a few important facts to be kept in mind regarding +nitrogen: + +"A fifty-bushel crop of corn takes 75 pounds of nitrogen from the +soil. Of this amount about 50 pounds are in the grain, 24 pounds are +in the stalks, and 1 pound in the cobs. A fifty-bushel crop of oats +takes 48 pounds of nitrogen from the soil, 33 pounds in the grain, +and 15 in the straw. A twenty-five bushel crop of wheat also takes +48 pounds of nitrogen from the soil, 36 pounds in the grain and 12 +in the straw. + +"These amounts will vary to some extent with the quality of the +crops, just as the weight of a bushel of wheat varies from perhaps +56 to 64 pounds, although as an average wheat weighs 60 pounds to +the bushel." + +"You surely remember figures well," remarked Mr. Thornton as he made +some notations. + +"It is easy to remember what we think about much and often," said +Percy; "as easy to remember that a ton of cowpea hay contains 43 +pounds of nitrogen as that Blairville is 53 miles from Richmond." + +"I have added those figures together," continued Mr. Thornton, "and +I find that the three crops, corn, oats, and wheat, would require +171 pounds of nitrogen. Now suppose we raise a crop of cowpeas the +fourth year, how much nitrogen would be added to the soil in the +roots and stubble?" + +"Not any." + +"Do you mean to say that the roots and stubble of the cowpeas would +add no nitrogen to the soil? Surely that does not agree with the +common talk." + +"It is even worse than that," said Percy. "The cowpea roots and +stubble would contain less nitrogen than the cowpea crop takes from +a soil capable of yielding thirty bushels of corn or oats. Only +about one-tenth of the nitrogen contained in the cowpea plant is +left in the roots and stubble when the crop is harvested. Suppose +the yield is two tons per acre of cowpea hay! Such a crop would +contain about 86 pounds of nitrogen, and about 10 pounds of nitrogen +per acre would be left in the roots and stubble." + +"Well, that wouldn't go far toward replacing the 171 pounds removed +from the soil by the corn, oats, and wheat, that's sure," was Mr. +Thornton's comment. + +"It is worse than that," Percy repeated. "Land that will furnish 48 +pounds of nitrogen for a crop of oats or wheat will furnish more +than 10 pounds for a crop of cowpeas. At the end of such a four-year +rotation such a soil would be about 200 pounds poorer in nitrogen +per acre than at the beginning, if all crops were removed and +nothing returned." + +"How much would it cost to put that nitrogen back in commercial +fertilizer?" asked Mr. Thornton. + +"That depends, of course, upon what kind of fertilizer is used." + +"Well, most people around here who use fertilizer buy what the agent +calls two-eight-two, and its costs about one dollar and fifty cents +a hundred pounds; but it can be bought by the ton for about +twenty-five dollars." + +"'Two-eight-two' means that the fertilizer is guaranteed to contain +two per cent. of ammonia, eight per cent. of available 'phosphoric +acid,' and two per cent. of potash." + +"Ammonia is the same as nitrogen, is it not?" + +"No, it is not the same," replied Percy. "Ammonia is a compound of +nitrogen and hydrogen. In order to have a clear understanding of the +relation between ammonia and nitrogen we only need to know the +combining weights of the elements. The smallest particle of an +element is called an atom. Hydrogen is the lightest of all the +elements and the weight of the hydrogen atom is used as the standard +or unit for the measure of all other atomic weights; thus the atom +of hydrogen weighs one." + +"One what?" interrupted Mr. Thornton. + +"No one knows," replied Percy. "The atom is extremely small, much +too small to be seen with the most powerful microscope; but you know +all things are relative and we always measure one thing in terms of +another. We say a foot is twelve inches and an inch is one-twelfth +of a foot, and there we stop with a definition of each expressed in +terms of the other, and both depending upon an arbitrary standard +that somebody once adopted; and yet, while the foot is known in most +countries, it is rare that two countries have exactly the same +standard for this measure of length. + +"We do not know the exact weight of the hydrogen atom, but we do +know its relative weight. If the hydrogen atom weighs one then other +atomic weights are as follows: + +12 for carbon +14 for nitrogen +16 for oxygen +24 for magnesium +31 for phosphorus +32 for sulfur +39 for potassium +40 for calcium +56 for iron + +"This means that the iron atom is fifty-six times as heavy as the +hydrogen atom. These atomic weights are absolutely necessary to a +clear understanding of the compounds formed by the union or +combination of two or more elements. + +"One other thing is also necessary. That is to keep in mind the +number of bonds, or hands, possessed by each atom. The atom of +hydrogen has only one hand, and the same is true of potassium. Each +atom of oxygen has two hands; so that one oxygen atom can hold two +hydrogen atoms in the chemical compound called water (H-O-H or H20). +Other elements having two-handed atoms are magnesium and calcium. +Strange to say, the sulfur atom has six hands but sometimes uses +only two, the others seemingly being clasped together in pairs. I +will write it out for you, thus: + +Hydrogen sulfid: H-S-H or H2S + +Sulfur dioxid: O=S=0 or S02 + +"The carbon atom has four hands, and atoms of nitrogen and +phosphorus have five hands, but sometimes use only three. Thus, in +the compound called ammonia, one atom of nitrogen always holds three +atoms of hydrogen; so, if you buy seventeen pounds of ammonia you +would get only fourteen pounds of nitrogen and three pounds of +hydrogen. This means that, if the two-eight-two fertilizer contains +two per cent. of ammonia, it contains only one and two-thirds per +cent. of the actual element nitrogen, and a ton of such fertilizer +would contain thirty-three pounds of nitrogen. In other words it +would take six tons of such fertilizer to replace the nitrogen +removed from one acre of land in four years if the crop yields were +fifty bushels of corn and oats, twenty-five bushels of wheat, and +two tons of cowpea hay." + +"Six tons! Why, that would cost a hundred and fifty dollars! Well, +well, I thought I knew we couldn't afford to keep up our land with +commercial fertilizer; but I didn't think it was that bad. Almost +forty dollars an acre a year!" + +"It need not be quite that bad," said Percy. "You see this +two-eight-two fertilizer contains eight per cent. of so-called +'phosphoric acid' and two per cent. of potash, and those +constituents may be worth much more than the nitrogen; but, so far +as nitrogen is concerned, the two hundred pounds would cost from +thirty to forty dollars in the best nitrogen fertilizers in the +market, such as dried blood or sodium nitrate." + +"Well, even that would be eight or ten dollars a year per acre, and +that is as much as the land is worth, and this wouldn't include any +other plant food elements, such as 'phosphoric acid' and potash." + +"No, that much would be required for the nitrogen alone if bought in +commercial form. I understand that the farmers who use this common +commercial fertilizer, apply about three hundred pounds of it to the +acre perhaps twice in four years. That would cost about eight +dollars for the four years, and the total nitrogen applied in the +two applications would amount to 10 pounds per acre." + +"It is not quite correct to call 'phosphoric acid' and potash plant +food elements. They are not elements but compounds." + +"Like ammonia, which is part nitrogen and part hydrogen?" + +"The problem is somewhat similar, but not just the same," Percy +replied. "These compounds contain oxygen and not hydrogen." + +"Well, I understand that both oxygen and hydrogen are furnished by +natural processes, the oxygen from carbon dioxid in the carbon +cycle, and the hydrogen from the water which falls in rain." + +"That is all true, but you really do not buy the hydrogen or oxygen. +While they are included in the two-eight-two guarantee, the price is +adjusted for that. Thus the cost of nitrogen would be just the same +whether you purchase the fertilizer on the basis of seventeen cents +a pound for the actual element nitrogen, or fourteen cents a pound +for the ammonia." + +"Yes, I see how that might be, but I don't see why the guarantee +should be two per cent. of ammonia instead of one and two-thirds per +cent. of nitrogen, when the nitrogen is all that gives it value." + +"There is no good reason for it," said Percy. "It is one of those +customs that are conceived in ignorance and continued in +selfishness. It is very much simpler to consider the whole subject +on the basis of actual plant food elements, and I am glad to say +that many of the state laws already require the nitrogen to be +guaranteed in terms of the actual element, a few states now require +the phosphorus and potassium also to be reported on the element +basis." + +"That is hopeful, at least," said Mr. Thornton. "Now, if I am not +asking too many questions or keeping you here too long, I shall be +glad to have you explain two more points that come to my mind: +First, how much of that two hundred pounds of nitrogen can I put +back in the manure produced on the farm; and, second, just what is +meant by potash and phosphoric acid?" + +Percy made a few computations and then replied: "If you sell the +wheat; feed all the corn, oats, and cowpea hay and half of the straw +and corn fodder, and use the other half for bedding; and, if you +save absolutely all of the manure produced, including both the solid +and liquid excrement; then it would be possible to recover and +return to the land about 173 pounds of nitrogen during the four +years, compared with the 200 pounds taken from the soil." + +"I can't understand that," said Mr. Thornton. "How can that be when +one of the crops is cowpeas?" + +"In average live-stock and dairy farming," Percy continued, "about +one-fourth of the nitrogen contained in the food consumed is +retained in the milk and animal growth, and you can make the +computations for yourself. It should be kept in mind, moreover, that +much of the manure produced on the average farm is wasted. More than +half of the nitrogen is in the liquid excrement, and it is extremely +difficult to prevent loss of the liquid manure. There is also large +loss of nitrogen from the fermentation of manure in piles; and when +you smell ammonia in the stable, see the manure pile steaming, or +colored liquid soaking into the ground beneath, or flowing away in +rainy weather, you may know that nitrogen is being lost. How many +tons of manure can you apply to your land under such a system of +farming as we have been discussing?" + +"Well, I've figured a good deal on manure," was the reply, "and I +think with four fields producing such crops as you counted on, that +I could possibly put ten or twelve tons to the acre on one field +every year." + +"That would return from 100 to 120 pounds of nitrogen;" said Percy, +"instead of the 173 pounds possible to be returned if there is no +loss. There are three methods that may be used to reduce the loss of +manure: One of these is to do the feeding on the fields. Another is +to haul the manure from the stable every day or two and spread it on +the land. The third is to allow the manure to accumulate in deep +stalls for several weeks, using plenty of bedding to absorb the +liquid and keep the animals clean, and then haul and spread it when +convenient." + +"I'm afraid that last method would not do at all for the dairy +farmer," said Mr. Thornton. "You see we have to keep things very +clean and in sanitary condition." + +"Most often the cleanest and most sanitary method the average farmer +has of handling the manure in dairying," said Percy, "is to keep it +buried as much as possible under plenty of clean bedding; and one of +the worst methods is to overhaul it every day by 'cleaning' the +stable, unless you could have concrete floors throughout, and flush +them well once or twice a day, thus losing a considerable part of +the valuable excrement. If you allow the manure to accumulate for +several weeks at a time, it is best to have sufficient room in the +stable or shed so that the cows need not be tied. If allowed to run +loose they will find clean places to lie down even during the night. + +"In case of horses, the manure can be kept buried for several weeks +if some means are used to prevent the escape of ammonia. Cattle +produce what is called a 'cold' manure, while it is called 'hot' +from horses because it decomposes so readily. One of the best +substances to use for the prevention of loss of ammonia in horse +stables is acid phosphate, which has power to unite with ammonia and +hold it in a fixed compound. About one pound of acid phosphate per +day for each horse should be sprinkled over the manure. Of course +the phosphorus contained in the acid phosphate has considerable +value for its own sake, and care should be taken that you do not +lose more phosphorus from the acid phosphate applied than the value +of all the ammonia saved by this means. Porous earth floors may +absorb very considerable amounts of liquid from wet manure lying +underneath the dry bedding, and the acid phosphate sometimes injures +the horses' feet; so that, as a rule, it is better to clean the +horse stables every day and supply phosphorus in raw phosphate at +one-fourth of its cost in acid phosphate." + +"Before we leave the nitrogen question," said Mr. Thornton, "I want +to ask if you can suggest how we can get enough of the several +million dollars' worth we have in the air to supply the needs of our +crops and build up our land?" + +"Grow more legumes, and plow more under, either directly or in +manure." + +"That sounds easy, but can you suggest some practical system?" + +"I think so. I know too little of your conditions to think I could +suggest the best system for you to adopt; but I can surely suggest +one that will supply nitrogen for such crop yields as we have +considered: Suppose we change the order of the crops and grow wheat, +corn, oats, and cowpeas, and grow clover with the wheat and oats, +plowing the clover under in the spring as green manure for corn and +cowpeas. If necessary to prevent the clover or weeds from producing +seed, the field may be clipped with the mower in the late summer +when the clover has made some growth after the wheat and oats have +been removed. Leave this season's growth lying on the land. As an +average it should amount to more than half a ton of hay per acre. +The next spring the clover is allowed to grow for several weeks. It +should be plowed under for corn on one field early in May and two or +three weeks later the other field is plowed for cowpeas. The spring +growth should average nearly a ton of clover hay per acre. In this +way clover equivalent to about three tons of hay could be plowed +under. Clover hay contains 40 pounds of nitrogen per ton; so this +would supply about 120 pounds of nitrogen in addition to the 173 +pounds possible to be supplied in the manure. This would make +possible a total return of 293 pounds, while we figured some 200 +pounds removed. Of course if you save only 100 pounds in the manure +the amount returned would be reduced to 220 pounds." + +"There are two questionable points in this plan," said Mr. Thornton, +" one is the impossibility, or at least the difficulty, of growing +clover on this land. The other point is, How much of that 120 pounds +of nitrogen returned in the clover is taken from the soil itself? I +remember you figured 86 pounds of nitrogen in two tons of cowpea +hay, but you also assumed that about 29 pounds of it would be taken +from the soil." + +"Yes, that is true," Percy replied, "at least 29 pounds and +probably more. You see the cowpeas grow during the same months as +corn and on land prepared in about the same manner. If the soil will +furnish 75 pounds of nitrogen to the corn crop, and 48 pounds to the +oats and wheat, it would surely furnish 29 pounds to the cowpeas. Of +course this particular amount has no special significance, but the +other definite amounts removed in corn, oats, and wheat aggregate +171 and the 29 pounds were added to make the round 200 pounds. +Perhaps 210 pounds would be nearer the truth, in which case the soil +would furnish about half as much nitrogen to the cowpea crop as to +the corn crop. This is reasonable considering that corn is the first +crop grown after the manure is applied. You will remember that only +one-tenth of the total nitrogen of the cowpea plant remains in the +roots and stubble?" + +"Yes, that's what we figured on." + +"The cowpea is an annual plant. It is planted, produces its seed, +and dies the same season. It has no need to store up material in the +roots for future use. Consequently the substance of the root is +largely taken into the tops as the plan approaches maturity. It is +different with the clover plant. This is a biennial with some +tendency toward the perennial plant. It lives long and develops an +extensive root system, and its stores up material in the roots +during part of its life for use at a later period. About one-third +of the total nitrogen content of the clover plant is contained in +the roots and stubble. This means that the roots and stubble of a +two-ton crop of clover would contain about forty pounds of nitrogen, +or more than we assumed was taken from the soil by the cowpeas. But +there is still another point in favor of the clover. The cowpeas +make their growth during the summer months when nitrification is +most active, whereas the clover growth we have counted on occurs +chiefly during the fall and spring when nitrification is much less +active, consequently the clover probably takes even a larger +proportion of its nitrogen from the air than we have counted on." + +"That is rather confusing," said Mr. Thornton, "you say the cowpea +grows when nitrification is most active, and yet you say that it +takes less nitrogen from the air than clover. Isn't that somewhat +contradictory?" + +"I think not," said Percy." Let me see.--Just what do you understand +by nitrification?" + +"Getting nitrogen from the air, is it not?" + +"No, no. That explains it. Getting nitrogen from the air is called +nitrogen fixation. This action is carried on by the nitrogen-fixing +bacteria, such as the clover bacteria, the soy bean bacteria, the +alfalfa bacteria, which, by the way, are evidently the same as the +bacteria of sweet clover, or mellilotus. Then we also have the +cowpea bacteria, and these seem to be the same as the bacteria of +the wild partridge pea, a kind of sensitive plant with yellow +flowers, and a tiny goblet standing upright at the base of each +compound leaf,--the plant called Cassia Chamaecrista by the +botanist." + +"Nitrification is an altogether--" + +"Well, I declare! Excuse me, Sir, but that's Charlie calling the +cows. Scotts, I don't see where the time has gone! You'll excuse me, +Sir, but I must look after separating the cream. You will greatly +oblige me, Mr. Johnston, if you will have dinner with us and share +our home to-night. In addition to the pleasure of your company, I +confess that I am mightily interested in this subject; and I would +like especially to get a clear understanding of that nitrification +process, and we've not had time to discuss the potash and +'phosphoric acid,' which I know cost some of our farmers a good part +of all they get for their crops, and still their lands are as poor +as ever." + +"I appreciate very much your kind invitation, Mr. Thornton. I came +to you for correct information regarding the agricultural conditions +here, and you were very kind and indulgent to answer my blunt +questions, even concerning your own farm practice and experience. I +feel, Sir, that I am already greatly indebted to you, but it will +certainly be a great pleasure to me to remain with you to-night." + +For more than two hours they had been standing, leaning, or sitting +in a field beside a shock of cowpea hay, Percy toying with his soil +auger, and Mr. Thornton making records now and then in his pocket +note book. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +COEDUCATION + + + + + +PERCY took a lesson in turning the cream separator and after dinner +Mrs. Thornton assured him that she and her sister were greatly +disappointed that they had not been permitted to hear the discussion +concerning the use of science on the farm. + +"We have never forsaken our belief that these old farms can again be +made to yield bountiful crops," she said, "as ours did for so many +years under the management of our ancestors. 'Hope springs eternal +in the human breast.' I stop with that for I do not like the rest of +the couplet. We can see that some marked progress has been made +under my husband's management, although he feels that it is very +slow work building up a run-down farm. But he has raised some fine +crops on the fields under cultivation,--as much as ten barrels of +corn to the acre, have you not, Dear?" she asked. + +"Yes, fully that much, but even ten barrels per acre on one small +field is nothing compared to the great fields of corn Mr. Johnston +raises in the West. and it makes a mighty small show here on a +nine-hundred-acre farm, most of which hasn't been cropped for more +than twenty years; and even then it was given up because the negro +tenants couldn't raise corn enough to live on. + +"I've talked some with the fertilizer agents, but they don't know +much about fertilizers, except what they read in the testimonials +published in the advertising booklets. I have had some good help +from the agricultural papers, but most that is written for the +papers doesn't apply to our farm, and it's so indefinite and +incomplete, that I've just spent this whole evening asking Mr. +Johnston questions; and I haven't given him a chance to answer them +all yet." + +"I am sure you have not asked more questions this afternoon than I +did this forenoon," Percy remarked; "and all your answers were based +on authentic history or actual experience, while my answers were +only what I have learned from others." + +"Well, if we were more ready to learn from others, it would be +better for all of us," said Mr. Thornton. "Experience is a mighty +dear teacher and, even if we finally learn the lesson, it may be too +everlasting late for us to apply it. Now we all want to learn about +that process called nitrification." + +"It is an extremely interesting and important process," said Percy. +"It includes the stages or steps by which the insoluble organic +nitrogen of the soil is converted into soluble nitrate nitrogen, in +which form it become available as food for all of our agricultural +plants." + +"Excepting the legumes?" asked Mr. Thornton. + +"Excepting none," Percy replied. "The legume plants, like clover, +take nitrogen from the soil so far as they can secure it in +available form, and in this respect clover is not different from +corn. The respect in which it is different is the power of clover to +secure additional supplies of nitrogen from the air when the soil's +available supply becomes inadequate to meet the needs of the growing +clover. If the conditions are suitable for nitrogen-fixation, then +the growth of the legume plants need not be limited by lack of +nitrogen; whereas, nitrogen is probably the element that first +limits the growth and yield of all other crops on your common +soils." + +"Now, what do you think of that, Girls? With millions of dollars' +worth of nitrogen in the air over every acre, our crops are poor +just because we don't use it. I wish you would tell me something +about the suitable conditions for nitrogen-fixation, Mr. Johnston. +You understand, Girls, that nitrogen-fixation is simply getting +nitrogen from the inexhaustible supply in the air by means of little +microscopic organisms called bacteria, which live in little balls +called tubercles attached to the roots of certain plants called +legumes, like cowpeas and clover. Corn and wheat and such crops +can't get this nitrogen. Now, Mr. Johnston is telling about +nitrification, a process which is entirely different from +nitrogen-fixation. Excuse me, Mr. Johnston, but I wanted to make +this plain to Mrs. Thornton and Miss Russell." + +"I am glad you did so," Percy replied. "As I was saying, +nitrification has no connection whatever with the free nitrogen of +the air. + +"All plants take their food in solution; that is, the plant food +taken from the soil must be dissolved in the soil water or moisture. +Of the essential elements of plant food, seven are taken from the +soil through the roots into the plant. These seven do not include +those of which water itself is composed. Now, these seven plant food +elements exist in the soil almost exclusively in an insoluble form. +In that condition they are not available to the plant for plant +food; and it is the business of the farmer to make this plant food +available as fast as is needed by his growing crops. + +"The nitrogen of the soil exists in the organic matter; that is, in +such materials as plant roots, weeds, and stubble, that may have +been plowed under, or any kind of vegetable maker incorporated with +the soil, including all sorts of crop residues, green manures, and +the common farm fertilizers from the stables. When these organic +materials are decomposed and disintegrated to such an extent that +their structure is completely destroyed, the resulting mass of +partially decayed black organic matter is called humus. The nitrogen +of the soil is one of the constituents of this humus or other +organic matter. It is not contained in the mineral particles of the +soil. On the other hand the other six elements of plant food are +contained largely in the mineral part of the soil, as the clay, +silt, and sand. thus the iron, calcium, magnesium, and potassium, +all of which are called abundant elements, are contained in the +mineral matter, and usually in considerable amounts, while they are +found in the organic matter in very small proportion. The phosphorus +and sulfur are found in very limited quantities in most soils, but +they are present in both organic and mineral form. + +"Practically the entire stock or store of all of the elements in the +soil is insoluble and consequently unavailable for the use of +growing plants; and, as I said, some of the chief plans and efforts +of the farmer should be directed to the business of making plant +food available. + +"The nitrogen contained in the insoluble organic matter of the soil +is made soluble and available by the process called nitrification. +Three different kinds of bacteria are required to bring about the +complete change." + +"Are these bacteria different from the nitrogen fixing bacteria?" +asked Mr. Thornton. + +"Entirely different," Percy replied, "and there are three distinct +kinds, one for each of the three steps in the process. + +"The first may be called ammonia bacteria. They have power to +convert organic nitrogen into ammonia nitrogen; that is, into the +compound of nitrogen and hydrogen; and this step in the process is +called ammonification. + +"The other two kinds are the true nitrifying bacteria. One of them +converts the ammonia into nitrites, and the other changes the +nitrites into nitrates. These two kinds are known as the nitrite +bacteria and the nitrate bacteria. + +"Technically the last two steps in the process are nitrification +proper; but, speaking generally, the term nitrification is used to +include the three steps, or both ammonification and nitrification +proper. + +"Now, the nitrifying bacteria require certain conditions, otherwise +they will not perform their functions. Among these essential +conditions are the presence of moisture and free oxygen, a supply of +carbonates, certain food materials for the bacteria themselves, and +a temperature within certain limits. + +"You may remember, Mr. Thornton, that more soil nitrogen is made +available for cowpeas during the summer weather than for clover +during the cooler fall and spring?" + +"Yes, I remember that distinction." + +"I declare," said Miss Russell, "Tom talks as though he had been +there and seen the things going on. I haven't seen you using any +microscope." + +"Well, I tell you, I've mighty near seen 'em," was the reply. "Mr. +Johnston makes everything so plain that I can mighty near see what +he saw when he looked through the microscope." + +"I greatly enjoyed my microscopic work," said Percy, "and still more +the work in the chemical laboratory where we finally learned to +analyze soils, to take them apart and see what they contain,--how +much nitrogen how much phosphorus, how much limestone, or how much +soil acidity, which means that limestone is needed. Then I also +enjoyed the work in the pot-culture laboratory, where we learned not +to analyze but to synthesize; that is, to put different materials +together to make a soil. Thus, we would make one soil and put in all +of the essential plant food elements except nitrogen, and another +with only phosphorus lacking, and still another with both nitrogen +and phosphorus present, and all of the other essential elements +provided, except potassium, or magnesium, or iron. These prepared +soils were put in glass jars having a hole in the bottom for +drainage, and then the same kind of seeds were planted in each jar +or pot. Some students planted corn, others oats or wheat or any kind +of farm seeds. I grew rape plants in one series of pots, and I have +a photograph with me which shows very well that all of the plant +food elements are essential. + +"You see one pot contained no plant food and one was prepared with +all of the ten essential elements provided. Then the other pots +contained all but one of the necessary soil elements, as indicated +in the photograph." + +"Why, I never saw anything like that," said Mrs. Thornton. + +"But I have many a time," said her husband, "right here on this old +farm; I don't know what's lacking, of course, but some years I've +thought most everything was lacking. But, according to this +pot-culture test, you can't raise any crops if just one of these ten +elements is lacking, no matter how much you have of the other nine; +and it seems to make no difference which one is lacking, you don't +get any crop. Is that the fact, Mr. Johnston?" + +One pot with no plant food, and one with all the essential elements +provided, and still others with but one element lacking. All planted +the same day and cared for alike. + +"Yes, Sir," Percy replied. "Where all of the elements are provided, +a fine crop is produced, but in each case where a single element is +omitted that is the only difference, and in some cases the result is +worse than where no plant food is supplied. It seems to hurt the +plant worse to throw its food supply completely out of balance than +to leave it with nothing except what it draws from the meager store +in the seed planted. Of course all the pots were planted with the +same kind of seed at the same time, and they were all watered +uniformly every day." + +"Those results are very striking, indeed," said Miss Russell," but I +suppose one would never see such marked differences under farm +conditions?" + +"Only under unusual or abnormal conditions," Percy replied, "but the +fact is that as a very general rule our crop yields are limited +chiefly because the supply of available plant food is limited. +Sometimes the clover crop is a complete failure on untreated land, +while it lives and produces a good crop if the soil is properly +treated; and in such cases the difference developed in the field is +just as marked as in the pot-cultures. In general we may set it down +as an absolute fact that the productive power of normal land depends +primarily upon the ability of the soil to feed the crop. + +"I have here a photograph of a corn field on very abnormal soil. +They had the negative at the Experiment Station and I secured a +print from it, in part because I became interested in a story +connected with this experiment field, which our professor of soil +fertility reported to us. + +"This shows a field of corn growing on peaty swamp land, of which +there are several hundred thousand acres in the swamp regions of +Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. This peaty soil is extremely rich +in humus and nitrogen, well supplied with phosphorus and other +elements, except potassium; but in this element it is extremely +deficient. This land was drained out at large expense, and produced +two or three large crops because the fresh grass roots contained +some readily available potassium; but after three or four years the +corn crop became a complete failure, as you see from the untreated +check plot on the right; while the land on the left, where potassium +was applied, produced forty-five bushels per acre the year this +photograph was taken, and with heavier treatment from sixty to +seventy-five bushels are produced." + +"Seventy-five bushels would be fifteen barrels of corn per acre. +How's that, Little Wife?" asked Tom. + +"It's even more wonderful than the pot culture," replied Mrs. +Thornton; "but how much did the potassium cost, Mr. Johnston." + +"About three dollars an acre," replied Percy; "but of course the +land has almost no value if not treated; and as a matter of fact the +three dollars is less than half the interest on the difference in +value between this land and our ordinary corn belt land. These peaty +swamp lands are to a large extent in scattered areas, and commonly, +if a farmer owns some of this kind of land, he also owns some other +good land, perhaps adjoining the swamp; but this is not always the +case, and was not with the man in the story I mentioned. This man +lived a few miles away and his farm was practically all of this +peaty swamp land type. He heard of this experiment field and came +with his family to see it. + +"As he stood looking, first at the corn on the treated and untreated +land, and then at his wife and large family of children, he broke +down and cried like a child. Later he explained to the +superintendent who was showing him the experiments, that he had put +the best of his life into that kind of land. 'The land looked rich,' +said he,--'as rich as any land I ever saw. I bought it and drained +it and built my home on a sandy knoll. The first crops were fairly +good, and we hoped for better crops; but instead they grew worse and +worse. We raised what we could on a small patch of sandy land, and +kept trying to find out what we could grow on this black bogus land. +Sometimes I helped the neighbors and got a little money, but my wife +and I and my older children have wasted twenty years on this land. +Poverty, poverty, always! How was I to know that this single +substance which you call potassium was all we needed to make this +land productive and valuable? Oh, if I had only known this twenty +years ago, before my wife had worked like a slave,--before my +children had grown almost to manhood and womanhood, in poverty and +ignorance!'" + +"Why wasn't the matter investigated sooner?" asked Miss Russell. +"Why didn't the government find out what the land needed long +before?" + +"I am a Yankee," said Percy. "Why have American statesmen ridden +back and forth to the national capitol through a wilderness of +depleted and abandoned farms in the eastern states for half a +century or more before the first appropriation was made for the +purpose of agricultural investigation? and why, even now, does not +this rich federal government appropriate to the agricultural +experiment station in every state a fund at least equal to the +aggregate salaries of the congressmen from the same state, this fund +to be used exclusively for the purpose of discovering and +demonstrating profitable systems of permanent agriculture on every +type of soil? Why do we as a nation expend five hundred million +dollars annually for the development of the army and navy, and only +fifteen millions for agriculture, the one industry whose ultimate +prosperity must measure the destiny of the nation? + +"Moralists sometimes tell us that the fall of the Babylonian Empire, +the fall of the Egyptian Empire, of the Grecian Empire, and the +Roman Empire, were all due to the development of pride and +immorality among those peoples; whereas, we believe that +civilization tends rather toward peace, security, and higher +citizenship. Is not the chief explanation for the ultimate and +successive fall of those great empires to be found in the exhausted +or wasted agricultural resources of the country? + +"The land that once flowed with milk and honey might then support a +mighty empire, with independent resources sufficient for times of +great emergencies, but now that land seems almost barren and +supports a few wandering bands of marauding Arabs and villages of +beggars. + +"The power and world influence of a nation must pass away with the +passing of material resources; for poverty is helpless, and +ignorance is the inevitable result of continued poverty. Only the +prosperous can afford education or trained intelligence. + +"Old land is poorer than new land. There are exceptions, but this is +the rule. The fact is known and recognized by all America. + +"What does it mean? It means that the practice of the past and +present art of agriculture leads toward land ruin,--not only in +China, where famine and starvation are common, notwithstanding that +thousands and thousands of Chinese are employed constantly in saving +every particle of fertilizing material, even gathering the human +excrements from every house and by-place in village and country, as +carefully as our farmers gather honey from their hives; not only in +India where starvation's ghost is always present, where, as a rule, +there are more hungry people than the total population of the United +States; not only in Russia where famine is frequent; but, likewise +in the United States of America, the present practice of the art of +agriculture tends toward land ruin. + +"Nations rise and fall; so does the productive power of vast areas +of land. Better drainage, better seed, better implements, and more +thorough tillage, all tend toward larger crops, but they also tend +toward ultimate land ruin, for the removal of larger crops only +hastens soil depletion. + +"To bring about the adoption of systems of farming that will restore +our depleted Eastern and Southern soils, and that will maintain or +increase the productive power of our remaining fertile lands of the +Great Central West, where we are now producing half of the total +corn crop of the entire world, is not only the most important +material problem of the United States; but to bring this about is +worthy of, and will require, the best thought of the most +influential men of America. Without a prosperous agriculture here +there can be no permanent prosperity for our American institutions. +While some small countries can support themselves by conducting +trade, commerce, and manufacture, for other countries, American +agriculture must not only be self-supporting, but, in large degree, +agriculture must support our other great industries. + +"Without agriculture, the coal and iron would remain in the earth, +the forest would be left uncut, the railroads would be abandoned, +the cities depopulated, and the wooded lands and water-ways would +again be used only for hunting and fishing. Shall we not remember, +for example, that the coal mine yields a single harvest--one +crop--and is then forever abandoned; while the soil must yield a +hundred--yes, a thousand crops, and even then it must be richer and +more productive than at the beginning, if those who come after us +are to continue to multiply and replenish the earth. + +"Even the best possible system of soil improvement, we must admit, +is not the absolute and final solution of this, the most stupendous +problem of the United States. If war gives way to peace and +pestilence to science, then the time will come when the soils of +America shall reach the limit of the highest productive power +possible to be permanently maintained, even by the general adoption +of the most practical scientific methods; and before that limit is +reached, if power, progress, and plenty are to continue in our +beloved country, there must be developed and enforced the law of the +survival of the fittest; otherwise there is no ultimate future for +America different from that of China, India, and Russia, the only +great agricultural countries comparable to the United States. An +enlightened humanity must grant to all the right to live, but the +reproduction and perpetuation of the unfit can never be an absolute +and inalienable right. + +"Under the present laws and customs, a man may spend half his life +in the insane asylum or in the penitentiary, and still be the father +of a dozen children with degenerate tendencies. There should be no +reproduction from convicted criminals, insane persons, and other +degenerates. Thieves, grafters, bribers and bribe-takers all belong +in the same class, and it should not be left possible for them to +reproduce their kind. They are a burden upon the public which the +public must bear, but the public is under no obligation to permit +their multiplication. The children of such should never become the +parents of others. It is a crime against both the child and the +public. + +"No doubt you will consider this extremely visionary, and so it is; +but unless America can see a vision somewhat like this, a population +that is doubling three or four times each century, and an area of +depleted soils that is also increasing at a rapid rate will combine +to bring our Ship of State into a current against which we may +battle in vain; for there is not another New World to bring new +wealth, new prosperity, and new life and light after another period +of 'Dark Ages.' + +"Whether we shall ever apply any such intelligence to the possible +improvement of our own race as we have in the great improvement of +our cattle and corn is, of course, an open question; but to some +extent you will agree that the grafter and the insane, like the +poet, are born and not made. Of course there are, and always will +be, marked variations, mutants, or 'sports,' but, nevertheless, +natural inheritance is the master key to the improvement of every +form of life; and it is an encouraging fact that some of the states, +as Indiana, for example, have already adopted laws looking toward +the reduction of the reproduction of convicted degenerates." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +PAST SELF REDEMPTION + + + + + +"BUT I have rambled far from the subject assigned me," Percy +continued. + +"That's only because I interrupt and ask so many side questions," +replied Mr. Thornton, "but I hope yet to learn more about those +'suitable conditions' for nitrogen-fixation and nitrification. It +begins to look as though the nitrogen cycle deviates a good deal +from a true circle, and nature seems to need some help from us to +make that element circulate as fast as we need it. I confess, too, +that this method appeals to me much more than the +twenty-cent-a-pound proposition of the fertilizer agent." + +"Yes, indeed," added Miss Russell; "and if we had to spend three +dollars an acre on this farm our 'Slough of Despond' would be worse +than the slough, or swamp, Mr. Johnston has told us about." + +"I fear the practical and profitable improvement of an acre of this +land is more likely to cost thirty dollars than three," said Percy. + +"Oh, for the land's sake!" came the ejaculation. + +"Yes, 'for the land's sake,'" repeated Percy; "and for the sake of +those who must depend upon the land for their support for all time +hereafter." + +"How ridiculous! Thirty dollars an acre for the improvement of land +that will not bring ten dollars to begin with!" + +"It is better to look at the other end of the undertaking," said +Percy. "Suppose you invest thirty dollars an acre and in a few years +make your ten-dollar land produce as much as our two-hundred dollar +land!" + +"But, Mr. Johnston; do you realize how much money it would require +to expend thirty dollars an acre on nine hundred acres?" continued +Miss Russell, with stronger accentuation. + +"Twenty-seven thousand dollars," was the simple reply. + +"Well, Sir," she said, "you are welcome to this whole farm for ten +thousand dollars." + +"I am not wishing for it," he answered. "In fact I would not take +this farm as a gift, if I were obliged to keep it and pay the taxes +and had no other property or source of income." + +"That's just the kind of talk I've been putting up to these girls," +said Mr. Thornton. "By the time we live and pay about two hundred +dollars a year taxes on all this land, I tell you, there is nothing +left; and we'd been worse off than we are, except for the sale we +made to the railroad company." + +"Well, the Russells lived here very well for more than a hundred +years," she retorted, "and my grandfather supported one nigger for +every ten acres of the farm, but I would like to know any farmers +about here who can put thirty dollars an acre, or even ten dollars +an acre, back into their soil for improvement." + +"The problem is indeed a serious one," said Percy. "Unquestionably +much of the land in these older states is far past the point of +possible self-redemption under the present ownership. Land from +which the fertility has been removed by two hundred years of +cropping, until it has ceased to return a living to those who till +it, cannot have its fertility restored sufficiently to again make +its cultivation profitable, except by making some considerable +investment in order to replace those essential elements the supply +of which has become so limited as to limit the crop yields to a +point where their value is below the cost of production. Even on the +remaining productive lands in the North Central States, if we are +ever to adopt systems of permanent agriculture, it must be done +while the landowners are still prosperous. If the people of the corn +belt repeat the history of the Eastern States until their lands +cease to return a profit above the total cost of production, then +they, too, will have nothing left to invest in the improvement of +their lands." + +"But their fertility could still be restored by outside capital?" +suggested Mr. Thornton. "I know very well that is the only solution +of our problem." + +"Well, Tom, I would like to know where the outside capital is coming +from," said Miss Russell. + +"Marry rich," he replied. "Don't make such a blunder as your sister +did." + +"I fear that Mr. Johnston will suggest that we sell some more land," +remarked Mrs. Thornton. + +"All right," replied her sister; "and we will sell it to him. If he +won't take the whole farm as a gift, we'll cut it to any length he +wishes. Do you consider 'Ten Acres Enough,' Mr. Johnston; or would +you prefer 'Three Acres and Liberty?' We'll do our best to enable +you to enjoy 'The Fat of the Land.' Just tell us how large a farm +you want, I know already that you do not want nine hundred acres." + +"My dear Miss Russell," said Percy. "This is so sudden"; whereupon +Mr. Thornton nearly fell from his chair and Mrs. Thornton laughed +heartily at the sister's expense who blushed as she might have done +twenty years before. + +"However," Percy resumed, "if you should decide to dispose of about +half of that seven hundred acres which you use only as a safety bank +for most of your two hundred dollars in taxes, please consider me a +prospective taker." + +"Take her," said Mr. Thornton, and again confusion reigned. + +"Tom is so anxious to get rid of his sister-in-law that he reminds +me of the man whose mother-in-law died," said Miss Russell. "He was +too far from home to return to the usual funeral, and they +telegraphed him the sad news and asked if they should embalm, +cremate, or bury the remains. He wired back: 'Embalm, cremate, and +bury'" + +"That matter of outside capital is by no means so substantial as it +might seem," said Percy. "It is worth while to consider how little +real wealth there would be in America if the remaining rich lands +should become impoverished. The railroads would at once cease to pay +dividends, and those who are now millionaires in railroad stock +would find themselves on the rapid road to poverty. The manufacturer +of finished products from the raw materials raised on the farm, the +manufacturer of agricultural implements, and the great urban +population whose income is from the trade in raw materials and +manufactured goods would soon see their wealth shrivel. The great +sky scrapers of the cities would be left for the owls and bats to +harbor in, if our agricultural lands ceased to yield their great +harvests. Meanwhile the farming people would continue to live upon +the meager products still produced from the impoverished soil, even +though they had no surplus food to ship into the cities. Human labor +would replace that of domestic animals on the farm, just as it has +done in China and India, in part because man's labor is worth more +than that of the beast, when measured only by the amount of food +consumed, and in part because a thousand bushels of grain will +support five times as many people can be supported for the same time +upon the animal products that could be produced by feeding the +grain." + +"Oh, that is such a gloomy view to take of it," said Miss Russell. + +"And all the world loves an optimist," replied Percy laughingly. +"Soils do not wear out; there is no poor land; the farms are better +and the crops larger than ever before; and we are the people of the +world's greatest nation, with an assured future glory which +surposses all conception." + +"As soon as we get the canal dug," suggested Mr. Thornton. + +"Yes, we will surely be able to dig that Panama ditch," said Percy; +"and probably our resources will last to cut a gash or two in our +own interior, if we don't build too many battle ships. You know +Egypt built three great pyramids before her resources became reduced +to such an extent that the people required all their energies to +secure a living." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +MORE PROBLEMS + + + + + +"NOW let us give Mr. Johnston a chance to tell us about the nitrogen +problem," said Mr. Thornton. "I'm pretty well satisfied with the +natural circulation of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen; but I want to +understand all I can of the practical methods of securing and +utilizing nitrogen; and we have heard almost nothing about the other +six essential elements which the soil must furnish. Let me see.--I +think you said that iron, calcium, magnesium and potassium are +usually abundant in the soil, while phosphorus and sulfur are very +limited." + +"Yes, that is the rule under general or average conditions, but it +should be stated that the amount of sulfur required by plants is +very small as compared with phosphorus, a difference which places a +great distinction between them. Besides considerable quantities of +sulfur are returned to the air in the combustion of coal and organic +matter, and this returns to the soil in rain. The information thus +far secured shows that sulfur rarely if ever limits the crop yields +under field conditions; and the same may be said of iron, which is +required by plants in very small amount and is contained in +practically all soils in enormous quantities. + +"While normal soils contain abundance of potassium, with about half +as much calcium and one-fourth as much magnesium; yet, when measured +by crop requirements for plant food, the supplies of these three +elements are not markedly different. On the other hand, about 300 +pounds of calcium are lost per acre per annum by leaching from good +soils in humid climates, compared with about 10 pounds of potasssium +and intermediate amounts of magnesium; so that, of these three +elements, calcium requires by far the most consideration and +potassium the least, even aside from the use of limestone to correct +or prevent soil acidity. + +"Among the conditions essential for nitrification may be mentioned +the presence of free oxygen and limestone; and of course all +bacteria require certain food materials, resembling other plants in +this respect." + +"Are they plants?" asked Mrs. Thornton. "I thought they were tiny +little animals." + +"No, they are classified as plants," replied Percy; "but the +scientists have difficulty with some of the lower organism to decide +whether they are plants or animals. The college boys used to say +that some animals were plants in the botanical department and +animals again when they studied zoology. Orton says it is easy to +tell a cow from a cabbage, but impossible to assign any absolute, +distinctive character which will divide animal life from plant life. + +"The oxygen is essential for nitrification, because that is an +oxidation process. That is, it is a kind of combustion, so to speak. +The organic matter is oxidized or converted into substances +containing more oxygen than in the original form. In ammonification +the carbon is separated or divorced from the nitrogen and united +with oxygen. Some of the hydrogen of the organic matter remains +temporarily with the carbon, and some is held temporarily with the +nitrogen in the form of ammonia. + +"The nitrite bacteria replace two of the hydrogen atoms in ammonia +with one of oxygen, and insert another oxygen atom between the +nitrogen and the remaining hydrogen, thus forming nitrous acid; +H-O-N=O, or HNO2. + +"The nitrate bacteria then cause the direct addition of another +oxygen atom, which is held by the two extra bonds of the nitrogen +atom, which you will remember is a five-handed atom. + +"Thus you will see the absolute need of free oxygen in the +nitrification process; and we can control the rate of nitrification +to a considerable extent by our methods of tillage. In soils +deficient in organic matter, excessive cultivation may still +liberate sufficient nitrogen for a fairly satisfactory crop; and the +benefits of such excessive cultivation for potatoes and other +vegetables is more often due to increased nitrification than to the +conservation of moisture, to which it is frequently ascribed by +agricultural writers. + +"Thus the more we cultivate, the more we hasten the nitrification, +oxidation, or destruction of the organic matter or humus of the +soil. Where the soil is well supplied with decaying organic matter, +we rarely need to cultivate in a humid section like this, except for +the purpose of killing weeds. + +"The presence of carbonates in the soil is essential for +nitrification, because the bacteria will not continue the process in +the presence of their own product. Nitrification ceases if the +nitrous or nitric acid remains as such; but, in the presence of +carbonates such as calcium carbonate (ordinary limestone) or the +double carbonate of magnesium and calcium (magnesian limestone, or +dolomite), the nitrous acid or nitric acid is converted into a +neutral salt of calcium or magnesium, one of these atoms taking the +place of two hydrogen atoms and forming, say, calcium nitrate: +Ca(NO3)2. At the same time the hydrogen atoms take the place of the +calcium in limestone ( CaC03), and form carbonic acid (H2CO3), which +at once decomposes into water (H2O) and carbon dioxid (CO2), which +thus escapes as a gas into the air or remains in the pores of the +soil. + +"The fact that nitrification will not proceed in the presence of +acid reminds us that only a certain degree of acidity can be +developed in sour milk. Here the lactic acid bacteria produce the +acid from milk sugar, but the process stops when about seven-tenths +of one per cent. of lactic acid has developed. If some basic +substance, such as lime, is then added, the acid is neutralized and +the fermentation again proceeds. + +"In the general process of decay and oxidation of the organic matter +of the soil, the nitrogen thus passes through the forms of ammonia, +nitrous acid, and nitric acid, and at the same time the carbon +passes into various acid compounds, including the complex humic and +ulmic acids, and smaller amounts of acetic acid (found in vinegar), +lactic acid, oxalic acid (found in oxalic), and tartaric acid (found +in grapes). The final oxidation products of the carbon and hydrogen +are carbon dioxid and water, which result from the decomposition of +the carbonic acid. + +"Now the various acids of carbon and nitrogen constitute one of the +most important factors in soil fertility. They are the means by +which the farmer can dissolve and make available for the growing +crops the otherwise insoluble mineral elements, such as iron, +calcium, magnesium, and potassium, all of which are contained in +most soils in great abundance. These elements exist in the soil +chiefly in the form of insoluble silicates. Silicon itself is a +four-handed element which bears somewhat the same relation to the +mineral matter of the soil as carbon bears to the organic matter. +Quartz sand is silicon dioxid (SiO2). Oxygen, which is present in +nearly all substances, including air, water, and most solids, +constitutes about one-half of all known matter. Silicon is next in +abundance, amounting to more than one-fourth of the solid crust of +the earth. Aluminum is third in abundance (about seven per cent), +aluminum silicate being common clay. Iron, calcium, potassium, +sodium, and magnesium, in this order, complete the eight abundant +elements, which aggregate about ninety-eight per cent. of the solid +crust of the earth. + +"It is worth while to know that about two and one-half per cent. of +the earth's crust is potassium, while about one-tenth of one per +cent. is phosphorus; also that when a hundred bushels of corn are +sold from the farm, seventeen pounds of phosphorus, nineteen of +potassium, and seven of magnesium are carried away. + +"The acids formed from the decaying organic matter not only liberate +for the use of crops the mineral elements contained in the soil in +abundance, but they also help to make available the phosphorus of +raw phosphate, when naturally contained in the soil, as it is to +some extent in all soils, or when applied to the soil in the +fine-ground natural phosphate from the mines. + +"Now the increase or decrease of organic matter in the soil is +measured with a very good degree of satisfaction by the element +nitrogen, which is a regular constituent of the organic matter of +the soil; and you are already familiar, Mr. Thornton, with the +amounts of nitrogen contained in average farm manure and in some of +our most common crops." + +"Yes, Sir, I have some of the figures in my note book and I mean to +have them in my head very soon. But, say, that organic matter seems +to be a thing of tremendous importance, and I'm sure we've got +mighty little of it. I think about the only thing we'll need to do +to make this old farm productive again is to grow the vegetation and +plow it under. As it decays, it will furnish the nitrogen, and +liberate the phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium; and we +may have plenty of all of them just waiting to be liberated." + +"That is altogether possible," said Percy; "but it must be +remembered that your soil is acid and consequently will not grow +clover or alfalfa successfully, or even cowpeas very satisfactorily. +A liberal use of ground limestone and large use of clover may be +sufficient to greatly improve your soil; but if I am permitted to +separate Miss Russell and the Thorntons "--Mr. Thornton's hilarious +"Ha, ha" cut Percy short. He crimsoned and the ladies smiled at each +other with expressions that revealed nothing whatever. + +"Now let me finish," Percy continued, when Mr. Thornton had somewhat +subsided. "I say, if I am permitted to separate Miss Russell and the +Thorntons from about three hundred acres of their land, I shall +certainly wish to know its total content of phosphorus, potassium, +magnesium, and calcium, before I make any purchase; and, if you will +remember the pot cultures and the peaty swamp land, I think you'd +agree with me. + +"Well, I shall be mighty glad to know that myself," said Mr. +Thornton, "and we shall much appreciate it if you can tell us how +to secure that information." + +"We can collect some soil to-morrow," Percy replied, "and send it to +a chemist for analysis." + +"Good," said Mr. Thornton; "now just one more question, and I think +I shall sleep better if I have it answered to-night. Just what is +meant by potash and phosphoric acid?" + +"Potash," said Percy, "is a compound of potassium and oxygen. The +proportions are one atom of oxygen and two atoms of potassium, which +you may remember are single-handed and weigh thirty-nine, so that +seventy-eight of potassium unite with sixteen of oxygen. A better +name for the compound is potassium oxid: K20. The Latin name for +potassium is kalium, and K is the symbol used for an atom of that +element. If you were to purchase potassium in the form of potassium +chlorid, which in the East is often called by the old incorrect name +'muriate of potash,' the salt might be guaranteed to contain a +certain percentage of potash, which, however, consists of +eighty-three per cent. of potassium and seventeen of oxygen." + +"Just what is this potassium chlorid, or 'muriate of potash'?" + +"Pure potassium chlorid contains only the two elements, potassium +and chlorin." + +"But didn't you say that it was guaranteed to contain potash and +that potash is part oxygen? Now you say it contains only potassium +and chlorin." + +"Yes, I am sorry to say, that this is one of those blunders of our +semi-scientific ancestors for which we still suffer. The chemist +understands that the meaning of the guarantee of potash is the +amount of potash that the potassium present in the potassium chlorid +could be converted into. The best you can do is to reduce the potash +guarantee to potassium by taking eighty-three per cent. of it; or, +to be more exact, divide by ninety-four and multiply by +seventy-eight, in order to eliminate the sixteen parts of oxygen. + +"It may be well to keep in mind that when the druggist says potash +he means potassium hydroxid, KOH, a compound of potassium, hydrogen, +and oxygen, as the name indicates." + +"You mentioned the word chlorin," said Mr. Thornton. "That is +another element?" + +"Yes, that is a very common element. Ordinary table salt is sodium +chlorid: NaCl. Sodium is called natrium in Latin, and Na is the +symbol used in English to be in harmony with all other languages, +for practically all use the same chemical symbols. Sodium and +potassium are very similar elements in some respects, and in the +free state they are very peculiar, apparently taking fire when +thrown into water. Chlorin in the free state is a poisonous gas. +Thus the change in properties is well illustrated when these two +dangerous elements, sodium and chlorin, unite to form the harmless +compound which we call common salt. + +"It is a shame," continued Percy, "that agricultural science has so +long been burdened with such a term as 'phosphoric acid,' which +serves to complicate and confuse what should be made the simplest +subject to every American farmer and landowner. As agriculture is +the fundamental support of America and of all her other great +industries, so the fertility of the soil is the absolute support of +every form of agriculture. Now, if there is any one factor that can +be the most important, where so many are positively essential, then +the most important factor in the problem of adopting and maintaining +permanent systems of profitable agriculture on American soils is the +element phosphorus. + +"Phosphorus in very appreciable amount is positively necessary for +the growth of every organism. It is an absolutely essential +constituent of the nucleus of every living cell, whether plant or +animal. Nuclein, itself, which is the substance nearest to the +beginning of a new cell, contains as high as ten per cent. of the +element phosphorus. + +"On the other hand, phosphorus is the most limited of all the plant +food elements, measured by supply and demand and circulation. + +"What is phosphoric acid? Well, the professor of chemistry says it +is a compound containing three atoms of hydrogen, one of phosphorus, +and four of oxygen. It is a syrupy liquid and one of the strongest +mineral acids. In concentrated form it is as caustic as oil of +vitriol. Why, here you have a Century dictionary. That should tell +what phosphoric acid is. This is what the Century says: + +"'It is a colorless, odorless syrup, with an intensely sour taste. +It is tribasic, forming three distinct classes of metallic salts. +The three atoms of hydrogen may in like manner be replaced by +alcohol radicles, forming acid and neutral ethers. Phosphoric acid +is used in medicine as a tonic.' + +"That," continued Percy, "is the complete definition as given by the +Century dictionary as to what phosphoric acid is, and I note that +this is the latest edition of the Century, copyrighted in 1902." + +"We bought it less than a month ago," said Mrs. Thornton. "We can +have so few books that we thought the Century would be a pretty good +library in itself; Mr. Thornton has had too little time to use it +much as yet." + +"Well, even if I had used it," said Mr. Thornton, "you see there are +five volumes before I'd get to the P's. But, joking aside, I don't +get much out of that definition except that phosphoric acid is a +sour liquid and is used in medicine." + +"The definition is entirely correct," said Percy "Any text on +chemistry will give you a very similar definition, and your +physician and druggist will give you the same information." + +"Well, I know the fertilizer agents claim to sell phosphoric acid in +two-hundred-pound bags which wouldn't hold any kind of liquid." + +"True," replied Percy, "and I consider it a shame that the farm boy +who goes to the high school or college and is there taught exactly +what phosphoric acid is, must. when he returns to the farm, try to +read bulletins from his agricultural experiment station in which the +term 'phosphoric acid' is used for what it is not. At the state +agricultural college, the professor of chemistry correctly teaches +the farm boy that phosphoric acid is a liquid compound containing +three atoms of hydrogen, one of phosphorus, and four of oxygen in +the molecule; and then the same professor, as an experiment station +investigator, goes to the farmers' institutes and incorrectly +teaches the same boy's father that phosphoric acid is a solid +compound pound containing two atoms of phosphorus and five atoms of +oxygen in the molecule." + +"But why do they continue to teach such confusion?" + +"Well, Sir, if they know, they never tell. In some manner this +misuse of the name was begun, and every year doubles the difficulty +of stopping it." + +"Like the man that was too lazy to stop work when he had once +begun," remarked Mr. Thornton. + +"Yes," said Percy, "but it is true that some of the States have +adopted the practice of reporting analyses of soils and fertilizers +on the basis of nitrogen instead of ammonia; and in the Corn Belt +States, phosphorus and potassium are the terms used to a large +extent instead of 'phosphoric acid,' and potash. The agricultural +press is greatly assisting in bringing about the adoption of the +simpler system, and the laws of some States now require that the +percentages of the actual plant food elements, as nitrogen, +phosphorus, and potassium, shall be guaranteed in fertilizers +offered for sale. It is one of those questions that are never +settled until they are settled right; and it is only a question of +time until the simple element basis will be used throughout the +United States, or at least in the Central and Western States." + +"The so-called 'phosphoric acid' of the fertilizer agent is a +compound whose molecule contains two atoms of phosphorus and five +atoms of oxygen; and, since the atomic weight of phosphorus is +thirty-one and that of oxygen sixteen, this compound contains +sixty-two parts of phosphorus and eighty parts of oxygen. In other +words, this phosphoric acid, falsely so-called, contains a trifle +less than forty-four per cent. of the actual element phosphorus." + +"Is the bone phosphate of lime that the agents talk about the same +as the 'phosphoric acid'?" asked Mr. Thornton. + +"No, by 'bone phosphate of lime,' which is often abbreviated B. P. +L., is meant tricalcium phosphate, a compound which contains exactly +twenty per cent. of phosphorus. Thus, you can always divide the +guaranteed percentage of 'bone phosphate of lime' by five, and the +result will be the per cent. of phosphorus. + +"As stated in your Century dictionary, true phosphoric acid forms +three distinct classes of salts, because either one, two, or all of +the three hydrogen atoms may be replaced by a metallic element. +Thus, we have phosphoric acid itself containing the three hydrogen +atoms, one phosphorus atom, and four oxygen atoms. This might be +called trihydrogen phosphate (H3PO4). Now if one of the hydrogen +atoms is replaced by one potassium atom, we have potassium +dihydrogen phosphate (KH2PO4); with two potassium atoms and one +hydrogen, we have dipotassium hydrogen phosphate (K2HPO4); and if +all hydrogen is replaced by potassium the compound is tripotassium +phosphate (K3PO4). To make similar salts with two-handed metallic +elements, like calcium or magnesium, we need to start with two +molecules of phosphoric acid H6(PO4)2; because each atom of calcium +will replace two hydrogen atoms. Thus we have mono calcium +phosphate, CaH4(PO4)2, dicalcium phosphate, Ca2H2(PO4)2, and +tricalcium phosphate, Ca3(PO4)2. It goes without saying that +monocalcium phosphate contains four atoms of hydrogen and that +dicalcium phosphate contains two hydrogen atoms. By knowing the +atomic weights (40 for calcium, 31 for phosphorus, and 16 for +oxygen), it is easy to compute that the molecule of tricalcium +phosphate weighs 310 of which 62 is phosphorus. This is exactly +one-fifth, or twenty per cent. This compound you will remember is +sometimes called 'bone phosphate of lime'. It is also called simply +'bone phosphate'; because it is the phosphorus compound contained in +bones. It is sometimes called lime phosphate, although it contains +no lime in the true sense, for it has no power to neutralize acid +soils, except when the phosphorus is taken up by plants more rapidly +than the calcium, which in such case might remain in the soil to act +as a base to neutralize soil acids; but even then the effect of the +small amount of calcium thus liberated from the phosphate would be +very insignificant compared with a liberal application of ground +limestone." + +"Well," said Mr. Thornton, stretching himself, "orange phosphate is +my favorite drink but I fear some of these phosphate you have just +been giving me are too concentrated. I ought to have the dose +diluted; but I like the taste of it, and if you'll write a book +along this line, in this plain way just about as you have been +giving it to me straight for almost twelve hours, I tell you I'll +read it over till I learn to understand it a heap better than I do +now." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +CLOSER TO MOTHER EARTH + + + + + +THE following day Percy collected soil samples to represent the +common type of soil on the farm. In the main the land was nearly +level and very uniform, although here and there were small areas +which varied from the main type, and in places the variation was +marked. Percy and his host devoted the entire day to an examination +of the soils of the farm and the collection of the samples. + +"The prevailing soil type is what would be called a loam," said +Percy, "and a single set of composite samples will fairly represent +at least three-fourths of the land on this farm. + +"It seems to me that it is enough for the present to sample this +prevailing type, and later, if you desire, you could collect samples +of the minor types, of which there are at least three that are quite +distinct." + +"A loam soil is one that includes a fair proportion of the several +groups of soil materials, including silt, clay, and sand." + +"What is silt?" asked Mr. Thornton. + +"Silt consists of the soil particles which are finer than sand,--too +small in fact to be felt as soil grains by rubbing between the +fingers, and yet it is distinctly granular, while clay is a mere +plastic or sticky mass like dough. What are commonly called clay +soils consist largely of silt, but contain enough true clay to bind +the silt into a stiff mass. In the main such soils are silt loams, +but when deficient in organic matter they are yellow in color as a +rule, and all such material is usually called clay by the farmers." + +"Well, I had no idea that it would take us a whole day to get enough +dirt for an analysis," remarked Mr. Thornton, as they were +collecting the samples late in the afternoon. "Five minutes would +have been plenty of time for me, before I saw the holes you've bored +to-day." + +"The fact is," replied Percy, "that the most difficult work of the +soil investigator is to collect the samples. Of course any one could +fill these little bags with soil in five minutes, but the question +is, what would the soil represent? It may represent little more than +the hole it came out of, as would be the case where the soil had +been disturbed by burrowing animals, or modified by surface +accumulations, as where a stack may sometime have been burned. In +the one case the subsoil may have been brought up and mixed with the +surface, and in the other the mineral constituents taken from forty +acres in a crop of clover may have been returned to one-tenth of an +acre." + +"Certainly such things have occurred on many farms," agreed Mr. +Thornton, "and they may have occurred on this farm for all any one +knows." + +"Fifty tons of clover hay," continued Percy, after making a few +computations, "would contain 400 pounds of phosphorus, 2400 pounds +of potassium, 620 pounds of magnesium, and 2340 pounds of calcium." + +"I don't see how you keep all those figures in your head," said Mr. +Johnston. + +"How many pounds are there in a ton of hay?" asked Percy. + +"Two thousand." + +"How many pounds in a bushel of oats?" + +"Thirty in Virginia, but thirty-two in Carolina." + +"How many in a bushel of wheat?" + +"Sixty" + +"Corn?" + +"Fifty-six pounds of shelled corn, or seventy pounds of ears." + +"Potatoes?" + +"Eighty-six pounds,--both kinds the same, but most States require +sixty pounds for the Irish potatoes." + +Percy laughed. "You see," he said, "you have more figures in your +head than I have in mine. You have mentioned twice as many right +here, without a moment's hesitation, as I try to remember for the +plant food contained in clover. I like to keep in mind the +requirements of large crops, such as it is possible to raise under +our climatic conditions if we will provide the stuff the crops are +made of, so far as we need to, and do the farm work as it should be +done. I never try to remember how much plant food is required for +twenty-two bushels of corn per acre, which is the average yield of +Virginia for the last ten years, while an authentic record reports a +yield of 239 bushels from an acre of land in South Carolina. On our +little farm in Illinois we have one field of sixteen acres, which +was used for a pasture and feed lot for many years by my grandfather +and has been thoroughly tile-drained since I was born, that has +produced as high as 2,015 bushels of corn in one season, thus making +an average of 126 bushels per acre. + +"What I try to remember is the plant food requirements for such +crops as we ought to try to raise, if we do what ought to be done. I +try to remember the plant food required for a hundred-bushel crop of +corn, a hundred-bushel crop of oats, a fifty-bushel crop of wheat, +and four tons of clover hay. It is an easy matter to divide these +amounts by two, as I have really been doing here in the East where +it is hard for people to think in terms of such crops as these lands +ought to be made to produce. + +"The requirements of the clover crop I certainly want to have in +mind as a part of my little stock of ever-ready knowledge. It is not +very hard to remember that a four-ton crop of clover hay, which we +ought to harvest from one acre in two cuttings, contains: + +160 pounds of nitrogen, +31 pounds of magnesium, +20 pounds of phosphorus, +120 pounds of potassium, +117 pounds of calcium. + +"It is just as easy to think in these terms as in per cent. or +pounds of butter fat, which I understand is the basis on which you +sell your cream." + +"Yes, I believe you are right in this matter, Mr. Johnston, but I +have never been able to see how we could apply the figures reported +from chemical analysis." + +"Neither do I see how any one but a chemist could make much use of +the reports which the analyst usually publishes. Such reports will +usually show the percentages of moisture and so-called 'phosphoric +acid,' for example, in a sample of clover hay, and perhaps the +percentages of these constituents in a sample of soil; but to +connect the requirements of the clover crop with the invoice of the +soil demand more of a mental effort than I was prepared for before I +went to the agricultural college. + +"On the other hand we were taught in college that the plowed soil of +an acre of our most common Illinois corn belt land contains only +1200 pounds of phosphorus, and that a hundred-bushel crop of corn +takes twenty-three pounds of phosphorus out of the soil. Furthermore +that about one pound of phosphorus per acre is lost annually in +drainage water in humid regions. By dividing 1200 by 24 it is easy +to see that fifty corn crops such as we ought to try to raise would +require as much phosphorus as the present supply in our soil to a +depth of about seven inches. Of course there is some phosphorus +below seven inches, but it is the plowed soil we must depend upon to +a very large extent. The oldest agricultural experiment station in +the world is at Rothamsted, England. On two plots of ground in the +same field where wheat has been grown every year for sixty years, +the soil below the plow line has practically the same composition, +but on one plot the average yield for the last fifty years has been +thirteen bushels per acre, while on the other the yield of wheat has +averaged thirty-seven bushels for the same fifty years." + +"The same kind of wheat?" inquired Mr. Thornton. + +"Yes, and great care has always been taken to have these two plots +treated alike in all respects, save one." + +"And what was that?" + +"Plant food was regularly incorporated with the plowed soil of the +high-yielding plot." + +"You mean that farm manure was used?" + +"No, not a pound of farm manure has been used on that plot for more +than sixty years; and, furthermore, the two plots were very much +alike at the beginning; but, to the high-yielding plot, nitrogen, +phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and sulfur have all been +applied in suitable compounds every year." + +"That is to say," observed Mr. Thornton, "that the land itself has +produced thirteen bushels of wheat per acre and the plant food +applied has produced twenty four bushels, making the total yield +thirty-seven bushels on the fertilized land." + +"That is certainly a fair way to state it," replied Percy. + +" Well, that sounds as though something might be done with run-down +lands. About what part of the twenty-four bushels increase would it +take to pay for the fertilizers?" + +"About 150 per cent. of it," Percy replied. + +"One hundred and fifty per cent! Why, you can't have more than a +hundred per cent. of anything." + +"Oh, yes, you can. The twenty-four bushels are one hundred per cent. +of what the fertilizers produced, and the land itself increased this +by fifty per cent., so that the fertilized land produced one hundred +and fifty per cent. of the increase from the plant food applied. + +"Well, that's too much college mathematics for me; but do you mean +to say that it would take the whole thirty-seven bushels to pay for +the plant food that produced the increase of twenty-four bushels?" + +"That is exactly what I mean. I see that you do not like percentage +any better than I do. Really the acre is the best agricultural unit. +We buy and sell the land itself by the acre; we report crop yields +at so many bushels or tons per acre; we apply manure at so many +loads or tons per acre; we apply so many hundred pounds of +fertilizer per acre; sow our wheat and oats at so many pecks or +bushels per acre; and we ought to know the invoice of plant food in +the plowed soil of an acre and the amounts carried off in the crops +removed from an acre. + +"Now, referring again to these figures from the forty acres of +clover at two tons per acre. If the eighty tons were burned and the +ashes mixed with the surface soil on a tenth of an acre the increase +per acre would be as follows: + +4,000 pounds of phosphorus +24,000 pounds of potassium +6,200 pounds of magnesium +23,400 pounds of calcium. + +"These, remember, are the amounts per acre that would be added to +the soil by burning the eighty tons of clover on one-tenth of an +acre. + +"Now compare these figures with the total amounts of the same +elements contained in the common corn belt prairie soil of Illinois, +which are as follows: + +1,200 pounds of phosphorus +35,000 pounds of potassium +8,600 pounds of magnesium +5,400 pounds of calcium. + +"From these figures you will see that the analysis of a single +sample of soil collected from a spot of ground that had sometimes +received such an addition as this would be positively worse than +worthless, because it would give false information, and that is much +worse than no information. + +"The methods of chemical analysis have been developed to a high +degree of accuracy, and it is not a difficult matter to find a +chemist who can make a correct analysis of the sample placed in his +hands; but the chief difficulties lie, first, in securing samples of +soil that will truly represent the type or types of soil on the +farm; and, second, in the interpretation of the results of analysis +with reference to the adoption of methods of soil improvement." + +"Is the report of the analysis as confusing with respect to other +elements as with potassium and phosphorus, which, I understand, are +likely to be reported in terms of potash and a 'phosphoric acid' +that is not true phosphoric acid?" + +"Still worse," Percy replied. "The calcium is commonly reported in +terms of lime, or, as you would say, quick lime; and vet the soil +may be an acid soil, like yours, and contain no lime whatever, +neither as quick lime nor limestone. I have seen an analysis +reporting half a per cent. of calcium oxid, which would make five +tons of quick lime in the plowed soil of an acre; whereas the soil +not only contained no lime whatever, but was so acid that it needed +five tons of ground limestone per acre to correct the acidity. + +"The trouble is that when the chemist found calcium in the soil +existing in the form of acid silicate, or calcium hydrogen silicate, +he reported calcium oxid, or lime, in his analytical statement, +assuming apparently that the farmer would understand that the +analytical statement did not mean what it said." + +"But some soils do contain lime, do they not?" + +"Some soils contain limestone," replied Percy, "and the analysis of +such a soil should report the amount of limestone, or calcium +carbonate, based upon the actual determination of carbonate carbon +or carbon dioxid, which is a true measure of the basic property of +the soil, even though the limestone may be somewhat magnesian in +character." + +For a set of soil samples. Percy collected soil from three different +strata. The first sample represented the surface stratum from the +top to six and two-third inches; the second sample represented the +subsurface stratum from six and two-thirds to twenty inches; and the +third sample represented the subsoil from twenty to forty inches, +each sample being a composite of about twenty borings. + +In collecting these the hole was bored to six and two-third inches +and somewhat enlarged by scraping up and down with the auger, all of +the soil being put into a numbered bag. Then, the hole was extended +and the subsurface boring removed without touching the surface soil. +This boring to a depth of twenty inches was put into a second bag. +The hole was then enlarged to the twenty-inch depth but the +additional soil removed was discarded as a mixture of the surface +and subsurface strata. Finally the hole was extended to the +forty-inch depth and the subsoil from one groove of the auger was +put into a third bag. In this manner about an equal quantity of soil +was bagged from each stratum; and twenty such borings taken with an +auger about one inch in diameter make a sufficient quantity to +furnish to the chemist. + +"Of course the surface soil is by far the most important," Percy +explained. "It represents just about the depth of earth that is +turned by the plow in good farming on normal soils; and it weighs +about two million pounds per acre. The subsurface stratum extending +from six and two-thirds to twenty inches in depth represents the +practical limit of subsoiling; and this stratum weighs about four +million pounds; while the subsoil stratum weighs about six million +pounds, where the soil is normal, such as loam, silt loam, clay +loam, or sandy loam. Pure sand soil weighs about one-fourth more, +while pure peat soil weighs only half as much as normal soil." + +"I wish you would tell me," said Mr. Thornton, "what the fertilizers +cost that have been used on that Rothamsted wheat field." + +"The annual application of nitrogen has been one hundred twenty-nine +pounds per acre," said Percy. "What will it cost?" + +"Well, at twenty cents a pound, it would cost $25.80," was Mr. +Thornton's reply after he had figured a moment. "But why didn't they +grow clover and get the nitrogen from the air?" + +"For two reasons," replied Percy. "First, when those classic +experiments were begun by Sir John Lawes and Sir Henry Gilbert in +1844, it was not known that clover could secure the free nitrogen +from the air; and, second, the experiment was designed to discover +for certain whether wheat must be supplied with combined nitrogen, +by ascertaining the actual effect upon the yield of wheat of the +nitrogen applied." + +"And what was the actual effect of the nitrogen?" questioned Mr. +Thornton. "How much did the wheat yield when they left out the +nitrogen and applied all the other elements?" + +"Only fifteen bushels," was the reply. + +"Only fifteen bushels! Only two bushels increase for all the other +elements, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and calcium,--and I +remember you said that sulfur also was applied. Why didn't they +leave off all these other elements, and just use the nitrogen +alone?" + +"They did on another plot in the same field." + +"Oh, they did do that? What was the yield on that plot?" + +"Only twenty bushels." + +"Only twenty bushels! Well, that s mighty queer. How do you account +for that?" + +"Does Mrs. Thornton sometimes make dough out of flour and milk?" +asked Percy. + +"Another Yankee question, eh?" said Mr. Thornton. "I told my wife +once that I wished she could make the bread my mother used to make, +and she said she wished I could make the dough her father used to +make. Yes, my wife makes dough, a good deal more than I do, and she +makes it of flour and milk, when we aren't reduced to corn meal and +water." + +"Can she make dough of flour alone?" continued Percy. + +"No," replied Mr. Thornton. + +"Nor of milk alone?" + +"No." + +"Well, wheat cannot be made of nitrogen alone, nor can it be made +without nitrogen. On Broadbalk field at Rothamsted, where the wheat +is grown, the soil is most deficient in the element nitrogen. In +other words, nitrogen is the limiting element for wheat on that +soil; and practically no increase can be made in the yield of wheat +unless nitrogen is added. However, some other elements are not +furnished by this soil in sufficient amount for the largest yield of +wheat, and these place their limitation upon the crop at twenty +bushels. To remove this second limitation requires that another +element, such as phosphorus, shall be supplied in larger amount than +is anually liberated in the soil under the system of farming +practiced." + +"Yes, I see that," said Mr. Thornton, "it's like eating pancakes and +honey; the more cakes you have the more honey you want. I think I +can almost see my way through in this matter; we are to correct the +acid with limestone, to work the legumes for nitrogen, and turn +under everything we can to increase the organic matter, and if we +find that the soil won't furnish enough phosphorus, potassium, +magnesium, or calcium, even with the help of the decaying organic +matter to liberate them, why then it is up to us to increase the +supply of those elements." + +"You must remember that the calcium will be supplied in the +limestone;" cautioned Percy. "And, if you use magnesian limestone, +you will thus supply both calcium and magnesium. Keep in mind that +_magnesian _only means that the limestone contains some _magnesium._ +and that it is not a pure calcium carbonate. The purest magnesian +limestone consists of a double carbonate of calcium and magnesium, +called dolomite." + +"But I have heard that magnesian lime is bad for soils," said Mr. +Thornton. + +"That is true," Percy replied, "and so is ordinary lime bad for +soils. The Germans say: 'Lime makes the fathers rich but the +children poor.' The English saying is: + +'Lime and lime without manure +Will make both farm and farmer poor.' + +"Both of these national proverbs are correct for common, every-day +lime; but you know, do you not, that limestone soils are usually +very good and very durable soils?" + +"That's what I've always heard," replied Mr. Thornton. + +"Well, there is no danger whatever from using too much limestone; +and all the information thus far secured shows that magnesian +limestone is even better than the pure calcium limestone. I know two +Illinois farmers who are using large quantities of ground magnesian +limestone, and one of them has applied as much as twenty tons per +acre. On that land his corn crop was good for eighty bushels per +acre this year. Of course that heavy application was more than was +needed, but initial applications of four or five tons are very +satisfactory, and these should be followed by about two tons per +acre every four to six years." + +Mr. Thornton took his guest to Blairville that evening as they had +planned and he assured Percy that should he decide to purchase land +in that section they would let him have three hundred acres of their +land at ten dollars an acre. + +"I will let you know after I get the samples analyzed for you," said +Percy. "The price is low enough and the location ideal, but still I +want to have the invoice before I buy the goods. I will write you +about sending the samples to the chemist after I hear from some I +sent him from Montplain." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +FROM RICHMOND TO WASHINGTON + + + + + +THE next day Percy spent a few hours at the State Capitol in +Richmond, where he found the records of the State of much interest. + +Thus he found that in practically every county there was more or +less land owned by the commonwealth, because of its complete +abandonment by former owners, and the failure of any one to buy when +sold by the state for taxes. + +Under such conditions the title to the land returns to the State, +and after two years it may be sold by the State to any one desiring +to purchase and the former owner has no further right of redemption. +Some of these lands which are owned by the State, and on which the +State has received no taxes for many years, are still occupied by +their former owners or by "squatters"' and may continue to be so +occupied unless the land should be purchased from the State by some +one else who would demand full possession. Such purchasers, however, +are likely to be unpopular residents in the community, if the +transaction forces poor people from a place they have called home, +even though they had no legal right to occupy it. + +Percy found that the report of the State Auditor showed that the +clerk of the court of Powhatan county had returned to the State +$1.05 "for sales of lands purchased by the commonwealth at tax +sales," while from Prince Edward county the State received a similar +revenue amounting to $17.39 for the same year. The total revenue to +the commonwealth from this source amounted to $667.85 for the year. +Contrasted with this was the revenue from "Redemption of Land," +amounting to $27,436.38, suggesting something of the struggle of the +man to retain possession of his home before it becomes legally +possible for another to take it from him beyond redemption. + +According to the records about a million acres of land are owned by +the Commonwealth of Virginia alone. + +Percy decided to go to Washington to learn what definite information +he might obtain from the United States Department of Agriculture. On +the train for Washington he found himself sitting beside a Virginia +farmer. + +"These lands remind me of our Western prairies," Percy remarked. +"You have some extensive areas of level or gently undulating +uplands." + +"They don't remind me of the Western prairies, I can tell you," was +the reply. "I am a Westerner myself, or I was until eight years ago. +These lands look all right from the train when the crops are all +off, but I find that every patch of the earth's surface doesn't +always make a good farm. Why you can go from Danville, Illinois, to +Omaha, Nebraska, and stop anywhere in the darkest night and you're +mighty near sure to light on a good farm where one acre is worth ten +of this land along here." + +"About what is this land worth?" asked Percy. + +"Well, I thought six hundred acres of it was worth $5,000 about +eight years ago, especially as the buildings on the place were in +good repair and couldn't be built to-day for less than $6,000: but +right now I think I paid a plenty for my land. It's just back a few +miles at the station where I got on." + +"How far is that from Washington?" + +"About fifteen miles, I reckon, as the crow flies. My boy has a +telescope his uncle sent him and we can see the Monument on a clear +day." + +"What monument?" asked Percy. + +"Why, Washington's monument. Haven't you ever been to Washington?" + +"No, this is my first visit. I am really thinking of buying a farm +somewhere here in the East. I have been in Richmond and learned a +great deal from the state reports, and I thought I might get more +information from the Department of Agriculture in Washington." + +"Perhaps," said the man, "but my advice is to keep in mind that +there is a difference between buying land and buying a farm. I've +got land to sell, by the way. I thought I'd need it all when I +bought, but I can see now that I'll not need more'n half of it at +the most; so, if you want two or three hundred acres of this kind of +land right close here where you kind o' neighbor with the senators +and other upper tens, and run back and forth from the City in an +hour or so, why I think I can accommodate you. My name is +Sunderland, J. R. Sunderland, and you'll find me at home any day." + +"How much would you sell part of your land for?" inquired Percy. + +"Well, I'd kind o' hate to take less than ten dollars an acre for +it; but I think we can make a deal all right if you like the +location." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A LESSON IN OPTIMISM + + + + + +ABOUT nine o'clock the day following Percy's arrival in Washington +he sent his card into the office of the Secretary of Agriculture. + +"Just step this way," said the boy on his return. "The Secretary +will see you at once." + +A gentleman who appeared to be sixty, but was really several years +older, arose from his desk and greeted Percy very kindly. + +"I see you are from Illinois, Mr. Johnston. I am an Iowa man myself, +and I am always glad to see any one from the corn belt. Do you know +we are going to beat the records this year? It is wonderful what +crops we grow in this country, and they are getting better every +year. We are growing more than two-thirds of the entire corn crop of +the globe, right here in these United States. Yes, Sir, and we are +just beginning to grow corn; and corn is only one of our important +agricultural products. Do you know that eighty-six per cent. of all +the raw materials used in all the manufactured products of this +country come from the farms of the United States; yes, Sir, +eighty-six per cent. + +"Now, what can I do for you? I am very glad you called, and I will +be glad to serve you in any way you desire. By the way, how is the +corn turning out in your part of Illinois? Bumper crop, I have no +doubt." + +"I think so," said Percy, "after seeing the crops here in the East. + +"That's what I thought," continued the Secretary." A bumper crop, +the biggest we ever raised. Oh, they don't know how to raise corn +here in the East. They just grow corn, corn, corn, year after year; +and that will get any land out of fix. I found that out years ago in +Iowa. I am a farmer myself, as I suppose you know. I found you +couldn't grow corn on the same land all the time. But just rotate +the crops; put clover in the rotation; and then your ground will +make corn again, as good as ever." + +"But I understand that clover refuses to grow on most of this +eastern land," said Percy. + +"Oh, nonsense. They don't sow it. I tell you they don't sow it, and +they don't know how to raise it. It takes a little manure sometimes +to start it, but it will grow all right if they would only give it +half a chance. Why, for years the Iowa farmers said blue grass +wouldn't grow in Iowa. Yes, Sir, they just knew it wouldn't grow +there; and then I showed them that blue grass was actually growing +in Iowa,--actually growing along the roadsides almost +everywhere,--blue grass that would pasture a steer to the acre--just +came in of itself without being seeded. No, I tell you they don't +sow clover down here. They just say it won't grow and keep right on +planting corn, corn, corn, until the corn crop amounts to nothing, +and then they let the land grow up in brush." + +"Now, I do not wish to take up more of your time," said Percy, "for +I know how busy a man you must be, but I am thinking of buying a +farm, or some land, here in the East and have come to you for +information. We have a small farm in Illinois and land is rather too +high-priced there to think of buying more; but I thought I could +sell at a good price, and buy a much larger farm here in the East +with part of the money and still have enough left to build it up +with; and, with the high price of all kinds of farm produce here, we +ought to make it pay." + +"You can do it," said the Secretary. "No doubt of it. Any land that +ever was any good is all right yet if you'll grow clover, and you +can start that with a little manure if you need it. I have done it +in Iowa, and I know what I am talking about. + +"Now my Bureau of Soils can give you just the information you want. +We are making a soil survey of the United States, and we have soil +maps of several counties right here in Maryland. You can take that +map and pick out any kind of land you want,--upland or bottom +land,--sandy soil, clay soil, loam, silt loam, or anything you +want." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +IN THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF + + + + + +"SHOW this gentleman to the Bureau of Soils," said the Secretary to +the boy who came as he pushed a button. + +"All the world loves an optimist," said Percy to himself as he +followed the boy to another office where he met the Chief of the +Bureau of Soils, who kindly furnished him with copies of the soil +maps of several counties, including two in Maryland, Prince George, +which adjoins the District of Columbia, and St. Mary county, which +almost adjoins Prince George on the South. + +These maps were accompanied by extensive reports describing in some +detail the agricultural history of the counties and the general +observations that had been made by the soil surveyors. + +"I desire to learn as much as I can regarding the most common upland +soils," Percy explained. "Not the rough or broken land, but the +level or undulating lands which are best suited for cultivation. I +am sure these maps and reports will be a very great help to me." + +"I think you will find just what you are looking for," said the +Chief. "You can spread the maps out on the table there and let me +know if I can be of any assistance. You see the legend on the margin +gives you the name of every soil type, and the soils are fully +described in the reports. One of the most common uplands soils in +southern Prince George county is the Leonardtown loam, and this type +is also the most extensive soil type in St. Mary county. + +"The same type is found in Virginia to some extent. While the soil +has been run down by improper methods of culture, it has a very good +mechanical composition and is really an excellent soil; but it needs +crop rotation and more thorough cultivation to bring it back into a +high state of fertility. The farmers are slow to take up advanced +methods here in the East. We have told them what they ought to do, +but they keep right on in the same old rut." + +For two hours Percy buried himself with the maps and reports. +Finally the Chief came from his inner office, and finding Percy +still there asked if he had found such information as he desired. + +"I find much of interest and value, but I do not find any complete +invoice of the plant food contained in these different kinds of +soil." + +"You mean an ultimate chemical analysis of the soil?" asked the +Chief. + +"Yes, a chemical analysis to ascertain the absolute amount of plant +food in the soil. I think of it as an invoice; but I see that you do +not report any such analyses." + +"No, we do not," answered the Chief. "We have been investigating the +mechanical composition of soils, the chemistry of the soil solution, +and the adaptation of crop to soil. We find that farmers are not +growing the crops they should grow; namely, the crops to which their +soils are best adapted. For example, they try to grow corn on land +that is not adapted to corn." + +"It seems to me," said Percy, "that our farmers are always trying to +find a crop that is adapted to their soil. Down in 'Egypt,' which +covers about one-third of Illinois, the farmers once raised so much +corn that the people from the swampy prairie went down there to buy +corn, and hence the name 'Egypt' became applied to Southern +Illinois. But there came a time when the soil refused to grow such +crops of corn; the farmers then found that wheat was adapted to the +soil. Later the wheat yields decreased until the crop became +unprofitable; and the farmers sought for another crop adapted to a +still more depleted soil. Timothy was selected, and for many years +it proved a profitable crop; but of late years timothy likewise has +decreased in yield until there must be another change; and now whole +sections of 'Egypt' are growing red top as the only profitable crop. +After red top, then what? I don't know, but it looks as though it +would be sprouts and scrub brush, and final land abandonment, a +repetition of the history of these old lands of Virginia and +Maryland." + +"Well, can't they grow corn after red top?" asked the Chief. + +"Many of them try it many times," replied Percy, "and the yield is +about twenty bushels per acre, whereas the virgin soil easily +produced sixty to eighty bushels." + +"And they can't grow wheat as they once did?" + +"No, wheat after timothy or red top now yields from five to twelve +bushels per acre, while they once grew twenty to thirty bushels of +wheat per acre year after year. + +"If they rotate their crops, they would probably yield as well as +ever," said the Chief. + +"No, that, too, has been tried," replied Percy. "The Illinois +Experiment Station has practiced a four-year rotation of corn, +cowpeas, wheat, and clover on an experiment field on the common +prairie soil down in 'Egypt,' and the average yield of wheat has +been only twelve bushels per acre during the last four years, but +when legume crops were plowed under and limestone and phosphorus +applied, the average yield during the same four years was +twenty-seven bushels per acre." + +"Probably the increase was all produced by the green manure," +suggested the Chief. "Organic matter has a great influence on the +control of the moisture supply." + +"That was tested," said Percy. "The green manure alone increased the +average yield to only fourteen bushels while the green manure and +limestone together raised the average wheat yield to nineteen +bushels, the further increase to twenty-seven bushels having been +produced by the addition of phosphorus." + +"Well, Sir," said the Chief, "we have made both extensive intensive +investigations concerning the chemistry of the soil solution by very +delicate and sensitive methods of analysis we have developed, and we +have also conducted culture experiments for twenty-day periods with +wheat seedlings in the water extract of soils from all parts of the +United States, and the results we have obtained have changed the +thought of the world as to the cause of the infertility of soils." + +"But you have not made analyses for total plant food in the soils or +conducted actual field experiments with crops grown to maturity?" +asked Percy. + +"No, we have not done that," answered the Chief. "Those are old +methods of investigation which have been tried for many years and +yet no chemist can tell in advance what will be the effect of a +given fertilizer upon a given crop on a given soil." + +"That is true," said Percy, "but neither can any merchant tell in +advance just what effect will be produced on the next day's business +by the addition of a given number of a given kind of shoes to a +given stock on his shelves. There are many factors involved in both +cases." + +"Yes, you are right in that," said the Chief, "we are just beginning +to understand the chemistry of the soil, and we hope soon to have +very complete proof of the advanced ideas we already have concerning +the causes of the fertility and infertility of soils." + +"Referring to the specific case of the Leonardtown loam of +Maryland," said Percy, "I find the following statement on page 33 of +the Report of the Field Operations of the Bureau of Soils for 1900. +After describing the Norfolk loam of St. Mary County, the writer +says: + +"'The Leonardtown loam is a very much heavier type of soil. It +covers about forty-one per cent. of St. Mary County. The soil is a +yellow silty soil, resembling loess in texture, underlaid by a clay +subsoil with layers or pockets of sand. This soil has been +cultivated for upward of two hundred years, but it is now little +valued and is covered with oak and pine over much of its area. It is +worth from $1 to $3 per acre. The cultivated areas produce small +crops of corn, wheat, and an inferior grade of tobacco.'" + +"The generally low estimation in which this land is held is probably +wholly unjustified," replied the Chief. "There are two or three +farms in the area which, under a high state of cultivation with +intelligent methods, will produce from twenty to thirty bushels of +wheat per acre and corresponding crops of corn. Those farmers are a +credit to the country. They furnish the towns with good milk and +butter and vegetables, and they also help to keep the towns clean +and sanitary by hauling out the animal excrements, and other waste +and garbage that tend to pollute the air and water of the village." + +"I can see how that might maintain the fertility of those farms," +said Percy. "It seems that the general condition of this kind of +land is about the same in Prince George County. On page 45 of the +1901 Report of the Field Operations of the Bureau of Soils, I have +noted the following statement: + +"'The Leonardtown loam, covering 45,770 acres of the area, is the +nearest approach among the Maryland Coastal Plain Soils to the heavy +clays of the limestone regions of Western Maryland and Pennsylvania. +The surface is generally level and the drainage fair. The soil is +not adapted to tobacco, and has consequently been allowed to grow up +to scrub forest, so that large portions of it are at present +uncleared. Such unimproved lands can be bought for $1.50 to $5.00 an +acre, even within a few miles of the District line. The soil has +been badly neglected, and when cultivated the methods have not been +such as to promote fertility. When properly handled, as it is in a +few places, good yields of wheat, corn and grass are obtained.'" + +"That's right," said the Chief, "exactly right. Upon the whole it is +one of the most promising soils of the locality, although it is not +considered so by the resident farmers." + +"You mean that it should be handled the same as is done by the +successful farmers of St. Mary County?" inquired Percy. + +"Yes, it needs thorough cultivation and the rotation of crops; and +the physical condition of the soil needs to be improved by the +addition of lime and manure, or green crops turned under." + +"I have been looking over some of the other Reports of Field +Operations," said Percy." I became interested in the description of +a Virginia soil called Porters black loam. I find the following +statements on page 210 of the Report for 1902: + +"'The Porters black loam occurs in all the soil survey sheets, +extending along the top of the main portion of the Blue Ridge +Mountains in one continuous area. This type consists of the broad +rolling tops and the upper slopes of the main range of the Blue +Ridge Mountains. Locally the Porters black loam is called "black +land" and "pippin" land, the latter term being applied because, of +all the soils of the area, it is pre-eminently adapted to the +Newtown and Albermarle Pippin. This black land has long been +recognized as the most fertile of the mountain soils. It can be +worked year after year without apparent impairment of its fertility. +Wheat winter kills, the loose soils heaving badly under influence of +frost. The areas lie at too high elevations for corn. Oats do well, +making large yields. Irish potatoes, even under ordinary culture, +will yield from two hundred to three hundred bushels per acre. It +seeds in blue grass naturally, which affords excellent pasturage. +Clover and other grasses will also grow luxuriantly upon it. The +areas occupied by this soil are mostly cleared.'" + +"Yes, Sir," said the Chief, "the Potters black loam is a fine +soil--loose and porous as stated in the Report. You see it has a +good physical condition." + +"There is one other description in this Report for 1903 that is of +special interest to me," said Percy. "This relates to a type of soil +which the surveyors found in the low level areas of prairie land in +McLean County, Illinois, and which they have called Miami black clay +loam. I think we have several acres of the same kind of soil on our +own little farm. I found the following statements on page 787: + +"'When the first settlers came to McLean County they found the areas +occupied by the Miami black clay loam wet and swampy, and before +these areas could be brought under cultivation it was necessary to +remove the excess of moisture. With the exception of a few large +ditches for outlets, tile drains have taken the place of open +ditches. Drainage systems in some instances have cost as much as $25 +an acre, but the very productive character of the soil, and the +increase in the yields fully justify the expense. There are few +soils more productive than the Miami black clay loam. Some areas +have been cropped almost continuously in corn for nearly fifty years +without much diminution in the yields.'" + +"Now there you are again," said the Chief. "Drainage, that's all it +needed. You see it's a simple matter; and that's what the +Leonardtown loam needs in places. Give it good drainage and good +cultivation with a rotation of crops, and you'll get results all +right." + +"Has the Bureau of Soils tried these methods on any of this soil +near Washington?" asked Percy. + +"No use," replied the Chief. "We've got the scientific facts and +besides, as I told you, some few farms are kept up in both Prince +George and St. Mary counties and they are as good demonstrations as +anyone could want. Now I suggest that you meet some of our +scientists." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE CHEMIST'S LABORATORY + + + + + +THE Chief showed Percy into the laboratories of the Bureau and +introduced him to the soil physicist and the soil chemist. Percy was +greatly interested in the various lines of work in progress and +gladly accepted an invitation to return after lunch and become +better acquainted with the methods of investigation used. + +In the afternoon the physicist showed him how the soil water could +be removed from an ordinary moist soil by centrifugal force, and the +chemist was growing wheat seedlings in small quantities of this +water and in water extracts contained in bottles. The seedlings were +allowed to grow for twenty days and then other seedlings were +started in the same solution and also in fresh solution, and it was +very apparent that in some cases the wheat grew better in the fresh +solutions. + +The chemist explained that he also analyzed the soil solutions and +water extracts from different soils and that there was no relation +between the crop yields and the chemical composition of the soils. + +"But it seems to me," said Percy, "that your analysis refers to the +plant food dissolved in the soil water only at the time when you +extract it. How long a time does it require to make the extraction?" + +"As a rule we shake the soil with water for three minutes and then +it takes twenty minutes to separate the water from the soil. This +gives us the plant food in solution and with the addition of more +water the nitrates, phosphoric acid, and potash in the soil +immediately dissolve sufficiently give us a nutrient solution of the +same concentration as we had before. Thus there is always sufficient +plant food in the soil so long as there is any of the original +stock." + +"That is surely quick work," said Percy, "but I wonder if the corn +plant might not get somewhat different results from the soil +analysis which it makes." + +"How do you mean?" + +"Did you ever plant a field of corn and then cultivate it and watch +it grow with increasing rapidity, until along about the Fourth of +July every leaf seemed to nod its appreciation and thanks as you +stirred the soil; and to show its gratitude, too, by growing about +five inches every twenty-four hours when the nights were warm?" + +"No," replied the Chemist, "I have never had any experience of that +sort. I am devoting my life to the more scientific investigations +relating to the fundamental laws which underlie these soil fertility +problems." + +"Well, I was only thinking," Percy continued, "that you analyze a +fraction of a pound of soil in a few minutes, while the corn plant +analyzes about a ton of soil by a sort of continuous process, which +covers twenty-four hours every day for about one hundred and twenty +days, and it takes into account every change in temperature and +moisture, the aeration with any variation produced by cultivation, +and also the changes brought about by the nitrifying bacteria and +all other agencies that promote the decomposition of the soil and +the liberation of plant food, including the action upon the +insoluble phosphates and other minerals of the carbonic acid exhaled +by the roots of the corn plants, the nitric acid produced by the +process of nitrification, and the various acids resulting from the +decay of organic matter contained in the soil." + +"I am very familiar with the literature of the whole subject of soil +fertility," replied the Chemist, "and our theories are being +accepted everywhere. I have just returned from a lecture tour +extending from Florida to Michigan, and our ideas and methods are +being very generally adopted, not only in this country but also in +Europe." + +"The Chief of the Bureau very kindly permitted me to look over the +maps and reports relating to the soils of Maryland and Virginia," +said Percy, "but in this literature I found no data as to the amount +of plant food contained in the various soil types that have been +found in the surveys. May I ask if the Bureau has made any analyses +to ascertain the total amounts of the different essential plant food +elements contained in these different soils?" + +"No," the Chemist replied, "a chemical analysis gives practically no +information concerning the fertility of the soil. We have made no +ultimate analyses of soils, although we have used the same methods +of analysis in a study of the partial composition of the soil +separates, or particles of different grades, such as the sand, the +silt, and the clay." + +"And have you also determined the percentages of sand, silt, and +clay in the soils themselves?" + +"Oh, yes, the physical composition of the soil is a matter of very +great importance, and this is always determined and reported for +every soil. Did you not see that in the Reports you examined this +morning?" + +"I think I did notice it," Percy replied, "but it is so easy for the +farmer himself to tell a sandy soil from a clay soil that I did not +appreciate the value of those physical analyses. + +"In any case, I shall be very glad to know what results were +obtained from the chemical analysis of the soil separates to which +you referred." + +"Those results are all reported in Bulletin No. 54 of the Bureau of +Soils," said the Chemist, "and I have extra copies right here and +will be glad to present you with one. And let me give you our +Bulletin 22 also. This will enable you to get a clear idea of the +principles we are developing which are solving the soil fertility +problems that have completely baffled the scientists heretofore." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +MATHEMATICS APPLIED TO AGRICULTURE + + + + + +PERCY left the Bureau of Soils with a feeling of deep appreciation +for the uniform courtesy and kindness that had been accorded him, +but with a firm conviction that the laboratory scientists were too +far removed from the actual conditions existing in the cultivated +field. He sought the quiet of his room at the hotel in order to +study the bulletins he had received. + +Even with his college training he found it difficult to form clear +mental conceptions of the results of investigations reported in the +bulletins. Sometimes the data were reported in percentages and +sometimes in parts per million. No reports gave the amounts of the +element phosphorus; but PO4 was given in some places and P2O5 in +others. In Bulletin No. 22, the potassium and calcium were reported +as the elements and the nitrogen in terms of NO3, while potash +(K20), quicklime (CaO), and magnesia (MgO) were reported in Bulletin +54. + +By a somewhat complicated mathematical process, he finally succeeded +in making computations from the percentages of the various compounds +reported in the soil separates and from the percentages of these +different separates contained in the soils themselves and from the +known weights of normal soils, until he reduced the data to amounts +per acre of plowed soil. + +He was especially pleased to find that the essential data were at +hand not only for both the Leonardtown loam and the Porter's black +loam, but also for the Norfolk loam, which he had learned from one +of the soil maps was the principal type of soil southwest of +Blairville on Mr. Thornton's farm; and, furthermore, the Miami black +clay loam of Illinois was included. Percy knew the black clay loam +was a rich soil, for the teacher in college had said that the more +common prairie land and most timber lands were much less durable and +needed thorough investigation at once, while the flat recently +drained heavy black land could wait a few years if necessary. + +Percy first worked out the data for the Miami black clay loam. The +chemist had analyzed the soil separates for only four constituents, +and they showed the following amounts per acre of plowed soil to a +depth of six and two-thirds inches, averaging two million pounds in +weight: + +2,970 pounds of phosphorus + +38,500 pounds of potassium + +18,440 pounds of magnesium + +46,200 pounds of calcium + +He then made the computations for the average of the Leonardtown +loam of St. Mary County, Maryland, with results as follows: + +160 pounds of phosphorus + +18,500 pounds of potassium + +3,480 pounds of magnesium + +1,000 pounds of calcium + +Percy stared at these figures when he brought them together for +comparison. He then checked up his computations to be sure they were +right. + +"Almost twenty times as much phosphorus!" he said to himself. "Is it +possible? And more than forty times as much calcium! Let me see! It +takes one hundred and seventeen pounds of calcium for four tons of +clover hay. The total amount in the plowed soil of the Leonardtown +loam would not be sufficient for eight such crops; and six crops of +corn such as we raised one year on our sixteen acres would take more +phosphorus from the land than is now left in the plowed soil of this +Leonardtown loam. The magnesium is not quite so bad--about one-fifth +as much as in our black soil, and the potassium is almost one-half +as much as we have." + +Percy next turned to the Porters black loam, which he had noticed +was to be found not many miles from Montplain. He thought he might +induce Mr. West to drive with him to the upper mountain slope in +order that they might see that land. His computations for the +Porters black loam gave the following results: + +4,630 pounds of phosphorus + +48,300 pounds of potassium + +12,360 pounds of magnesium + +23,700 pounds of calcium + +He viewed these figures a moment with evident satisfaction. + +"Plenty of everything in this wonderful 'pippin land,'" he thought. +"Big yields reported for everything suited to that altitude. 'Can be +worked year after year without apparent impairment of its +fertility,' so the Report stated. I should think it might, +especially since clover is one of the crops grown. Both phosphorus +and potassium are way above our best black land. Magnesium +two-thirds and calcium one-half of our flat land, but still greater +than our common prairie, according to the average they gave us at +college. And no doubt there is plenty of magnesian limestone in +these mountains which could be had if ever needed. The soil surveyor +certainly did not say too much in praise of the Porters black loam, +considering that its physical composition is also all right." + +He worked out the Norfolk loam to see what he would get if he +accepted Miss Russell's dare. The following are the figures: + +610 pounds of phosphorus + +13,200 pounds of potassium + +1,200 pounds of magnesium + +3,430 pounds of calcium + +"Rather low in everything," said Percy, "compared with any soil I +know that has a good reputation. More uniformly poor but not so +extremely poor as the Leonardtown loam." + +He wished that the nitrogen had been determined by the chemist, even +though he knew the organic matter and the nitrogen must be very low +in the poor soils, but nowhere was any such record to be found in +the bulletin. He found the statement, however, that all data were +reported on the basis of ignited soil. + +"That will reduce some of these amounts about one-tenth," he said to +himself. "In our physics work in college, good soils generally lost +about ten per cent. in weight by ignition, even after all +hygroscopic moisture had been expelled; but these very poor soils +haven't much to lose, I guess. They surely contain no carbonates and +very little organic matter, although they may contain some combined +water." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE NATION'S CAPITOL + + + + + +PERCY spent three days in Washington. + +"If I lived here long," he wrote his mother, "I think I should +become as optimistic as the Secretary of Agriculture, even though +the total produce of the original thirteen states should supply a +still smaller fraction of the necessities of life required by their +population. The Congressional Library is by far the finest structure +I have ever seen. I cannot help feeling proud that I am an American +when I walk through its halls and look upon the portraits of the +great men who helped to make our country truly great. + +"As I shook hands with the President of the United States at one of +his public receptions held in the 'East Room' of the White House, I +wondered if there was another country on the earth where the +humblest subject could thus come face to face with the head of a +mighty nation. In the Treasury Building I was permitted to join a +small party of some distinction and shared with each of them the +privilege of holding in my hands for a moment eight million dollars +in government bonds. + +"I have visited many of the great buildings, the Capitol, of course, +and Washington's monument, which rises to a height of 555 feet above +the surrounding land, or practically 600 feet above low-water level +in the Potomac. There are many smaller monuments erected in honor of +American heroes in various squares, circles, and parks throughout +the City. + +"The zoological garden took a full half-day, and I could have spent +a much longer time there. They told me of a frightful occurrence +that happened only last week. In a pool of water a very large +alligator is kept confined by a low stout iron fence. A negro woman +was leaning over the fence holding her baby in her arms and looking +at the monster who seemed to be asleep; when, without a moment's +warning, he thrust himself half out of the water and snapped the +baby from her arms, swallowing it at one gulp as he settled back +into the water. I fear the report is true enough, for they have made +the fence higher in a very temporary manner, and I heard it +mentioned by a dozen or more. + +"I leave Washington by boat at five o'clock this afternoon, and I +expect to land at Leonardtown, St. Mary county, Maryland, about six +o'clock in the morning, when the boat will be ready to leave that +port. It is a freight boat and stops for hours at large towns. + +"I am planning for a trip into New England next week. I did not +realize how easy it is to go there until I looked up the train +service. In less than twelve hours' time, one can make the trip from +the Virginia line, through the District of Columbia, Maryland, +Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode +Island, and into Massachusetts,--ten different states, including the +District. The trip from Galena to Cairo can hardly be made in so +short a time, not even on the limited Illinois Central trains." + +An hour before leaving the Washington hotel Percy chanced to meet a +Congressman whom he had seen on several occasions at the University +and who had spoken at the alumni banquet at the time of Percy's +graduation. + +"I'm very glad you introduced yourself, Mr. Johnston," said he. +"Want to get a place down here, do you? Very likely I can help you +some. I've helped several friends of mine to get good places. What +are you after ?" + +"I am thinking of getting a place of about three hundred acres," +said Percy, "and I shall certainly appreciate any assistance or +information you can give me." + +"Whe-e-ew. What are you up to? Want to sell us a site for the new +Government insane hospital, or going to lay out another addition to +the city?" + +"Neither," replied Percy. "I am looking for a piece of cheap land +that I can build up and make into a good farm." + +"Oh, ho!" said the Congressman. "That's it, is it? Well, now let me +tell you that you've struck the wrong neck of the woods to find land +that you can make a good farm out of. The land about here is cheap +enough all right--cheaper than the votes of some politicians, but it +can't be built up into good farms. Don't attempt the impossible, my +friend. If you want cheap land for town sites or insane hospitals, +right here's the country to land in; but if you want a good farm, +you stay right in Illinois, or else follow Horace Greeley's advice +and 'go West.'. That's a good suggestion for you, too. Just go West +and get three hundred and twenty acres of the richest soil lying out +of doors." + +"There is not much land left in the West where the rainfall is +sufficient for good crops," said Percy. + +"Then take irrigated land. The Government is getting under way some +big irrigation projects, and you ought to get in on the ground floor +on one of those tracts. It is a fact that the apples from some of +those irrigated farms sometimes bring more than $500 an acre." + +"I don't doubt that," said Percy. "An illustration or example can +usually be found to prove almost anything. I know that the Perrine +Brothers, who conduct a fruit farm down in 'Egypt,' actually +received $800 per acre for the apples grown on thirteen acres one +year; and there is plenty of such land in Egypt that can be bought +for less than $40 an acre, and near to the great markets. I am told, +however, that there are from a dozen to a hundred applicants for +every farm opened to settlement in the West in these years, and it +is estimated that all of the arid lands that can ever be put under +irrigation in the United States will provide homes for no more than +our regular increase in population in five years, and that the only +other remaining rich lands--the swamp areas--will be occupied by the +increase of ten years in our population. It has seemed to me that it +is high time we came back to these partially worn-out Eastern lands +and begin to build them up. Here the rainfall is abundant, the +climate is fine, and the markets are the best, and there are +millions of acres of these Eastern lands that lie as nicely for +farming as the Western prairies. Why should they not be built up +into good farms?" + +"Now, let me give you a little fatherly advice," said the +Congressman, laying his hand on Percy's shoulder. "I tell you this +land never was any good. If the East and South hadn't been settled +first, they never would have been settled. Poor land remains poor +land, and good land remains good land; and if you want to farm good +land, you better stay right in the corn belt. You can't grow +anything on these Eastern lands without fertilizer and the more you +fertilize the more you must, and still the land remains as poor as +ever. Just leave off the fertilizer one year and your crop is not +worth harvesting. These lands never were any good and they never +will be." + +"But that is hardly in accord with what the people now living on +these old Eastern farms report for the conditions of agriculture in +the times of their ancestors." + +"Oh, yes, I know people are always talking about their ancestors, +and especially Virginians; but, Caesar! I wonder what their +ancestors would think of them! You can't afford to take any stock in +the ancestry of these old Virginians." + +"I call to mind that the historical records give much information +along this line," said Percy. "It is recorded that mills for +grinding corn and wheat were common, that the flour of Mount Vernon +was packed under the eye of Washington, and we are told that barrels +of flour bearing his brand passed in the export markets without +inspection. History records that the plantations of Virginia usually +passed from father to son, according to the law of entail, and that +the heads of families lived like lords, keeping their stables of +blooded horses and rolling to church or town in their coach and six, +with outriders on horseback. Their spacious mansions were sometimes +built of imported brick; and, within, the grand staircases, the +mantles, and the wainscot reaching from floor to ceiling, were of +solid mahogany, elaborately carved and paneled. The sideboards shone +with gold and silver plate, and the tables were loaded with the +luxuries from both the New and the Old World, and plenty of these +old mansions still exist in dilapidated condition." + +"That all sounds good for history," said the Congressman, "but the +historian probably got his information from some of these old +Virginians whose only religion is ancestral worship. If the lands +were ever any good they'd be good now. Good lands stay good. As an +Illinois man, you ought to know that. My father settled in Illinois +and I tell you his land is better to-day than it was the day he took +it from the Government." + +"My grandfather also took land from the Government," said Percy, +"but the land that he first put under cultivation is not producing +as good crops now as it used to, even though--" + +"Then it must be you don't farm it right. Of course you don't want +to corn your land to death. I lived on the farm long enough to learn +that; but if you'll only grow two or three crops of corn and then +change to a crop of oats, you'll find your land ready for corn +again; and, if you'll sow clover with the oats and plow the clover +under the next spring, you'll find the land will grow more corn than +ever your grandfather grew on it." + +"But how can we maintain the supply of plant food in the soil by +merely substituting oats for corn once in three or four years and +turning under perhaps a ton of clover as green manure. That amount +of clover would contain no more nitrogen than 40 bushels of corn +would remove from the soil, and of course the clover has no power to +add any phosphorus or other mineral elements." + +"Oh, yes. I've heard all about that sort of talk. You know I'm a U. +of I. man myself. I studied chemistry in the University under a man +who knew more in a minute than all the 'tommy rot' you've been +filled up with. I also lived on an Illinois farm, and I speak from +practical experience. I know what I am talking about, and I don't +care a rap for all the theories that can be stacked up by your +modern college professor, who wouldn't know a pumpkin if he met one +rolling down hill. I tell you God Almighty never made the black corn +belt land to be worn out, and he doesn't create people on this earth +to let 'em starve to death. Don't you understand that?" + +"I am afraid that I do not," replied Percy. "I have received no such +direct communication; but I saw a letter written from China by a +missionary describing the famine-stricken districts in which he was +located. He wrote the letter in February and said that at that time +the only practical thing to do in that district was to let four +hundred thousand people starve and try to get seed grain for the +remainder to plant the spring crops. I have a "Handbook of Indian +Agriculture" written by a professor of agriculture and agricultural +chemistry at one of the colleges in India. I got it from one of the +Hindu students who attended the University when I was there. This +book states that famine, local or general, has been the order of the +day in India, and particularly within recent years. It also states +that in one of the worst famines in India ten million people died of +starvation within nine months. The average wage of the laboring man +in India, according to the Governmental statistics, is fifty cents a +month, and in famine years the price of wheat has risen to as high +as $3.60 a bushel. This writer states that the most recent of all +famines; namely, that prevailing in most parts of India from 1897 to +1900, was severer than the famine of 1874 to 1878. No, Sir, I am not +sure that I understand just what God's intentions are concerning the +corn belt, but it is recorded that the Lord helps him who helps +himself, and that man should earn his bread by the sweat of his +brow. If God made the common soil in America with a limited amount +of phosphorus in it, He also stored great deposits of natural rock +phosphate in the mines of several States, and perhaps intended that +man should earn his bread by grinding that rock and applying it to +the soil. Possibly the Almighty intended--" + +"Now, I'm very sorry, Mr. Johnston, but I have an engagement which I +must keep, and you'll have to excuse me just now. I'm mighty glad to +have met you and I'd like to talk with you for an hour more along +this line; but you take my advice and stick to the corn belt land. +Above all, don't begin to use phosphates or any sort of commercial +fertilizer; they'll ruin any land in a few years; that's my opinion. +But then, every man has a right to his own opinion. and perhaps you +have a different notion. Eh?" + +"I think no man has a right to an opinion which is contrary to +fact," Percy replied. "This whole question is one of facts and not +of opinions. One fact is worth more than a wagonload of incorrect +opinions. But I must not detain you longer. I am very glad to have +met you here. In large measure the statesmen of America must bear +the responsibility for the future condition of agriculture and the +other great industries of the United States, all of which depend +upon agriculture for their support and prosperity. Good bye." + +"I'll agree with you there all right; the farmer feeds them all. +Good bye." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +A LESSON ON TOBACCO + + + + + +PERCY found Leonardtown almost in the center of St. Mary county, +situated on Breton bay, an arm of the lower Potomac. + +From the data recorded on the back of his map of Maryland, Percy +noted that a population of four hundred and fifty-four found support +in this old county seat, according to the census of I 900. After +spending the day in the country, he found himself wondering how even +that number of people could be supported, and then remembered that +there is one industry of some importance in the United States which +exists independent of agriculture, an industry which preceded +agriculture, and which evidently has also succeeded agriculture to a +very considerable extent in some places; namely, fishing. + +"Clams, oysters and fish, and in this order," he said to himself, +"apparently constitute the means of support for some of these +people." + +And yet the country was not depopulated, although very much of the +arable land was abandoned for agricultural purposes. A farm of a +hundred acres might have ten acres under cultivation, this being as +much as the farmer could "keep up," as was commonly stated. This +meant that all of the farm manure and other refuse that could be +secured from the entire farm or hauled from the village, together +with what commercial fertilizer the farmer was able to buy, would +not enable him to keep more than ten acres of land in a state of +productiveness that justified its cultivation. Tobacco, corn, wheat +and cowpeas were the principal crops. Corn was the principal article +of food, with wheat bread more or less common. The cowpeas and corn +fodder usually kept one or more cows through the winter when they +could not secure a living in the brush. Tobacco, the principal "money +crop," was depended on to buy clothing, and "groceries," which +included more or less fish and pork, although some farmers "raised +their own meat," in part by fattening hogs on the acorns that fell +in the autumn from the scrub oak trees. + +One farm of one hundred and ninety acres owned by an old lady, who +lived in the nearby country village was rented for $100 a year, +which amounted to about fifty-two and one-half cents an acres as the +gross income to the landowner. After the taxes were paid, about +thirty cents an acre remained for repairs on buildings and fences +and interest on the investment. + +Percy spent some time on a five hundred acre farm belonging to an +old gentleman who still gave his name as F. Allerton Jones, a man +whose father had been prominent in the community. According to the +county soil map which had been presented to Percy by the Bureau of +Soils, the soil of this farm was all Leonardtown loam, except about +forty acres which occupied the sides of a narrow valley a bend of +which cut the farm on the south side. + +"My father had this whole farm under cultivation," said Mr. Jones, +"except the hillsides. But what's the use? We get along with a good +deal less work, and I've found it better to cultivate less ground +during the forty odd years I've had to meet the bills. But I've kept +up more of my land than most of my neighbors. I reckon I've got +about eighty acres of good cleared land yet on this farm, and the +leaves and pine needles we rake up where the trees grow on the old +fields make a good fertilizer for the land we aim to cultivate, and +I get a good many loads of manure from friends who live in the +village and keep a cow or a horse. + +"The last crop I raised on that east field, where you see those +scrub pines, was in 1881. I finished cultivating corn there the day +I heard about President Garfield being shot; and it was a mighty hot +July day too. My neighbor, Seth Whitmore, who died about ten years +ago, came along from the village and waited for me to come to the +end of the row down by the road and he told me that Garfield was +shot. We both allowed the corn would be a pretty fair crop and when +I gathered the fodder that fall there was a right smart of a corn +crop. Yes, Sir, it's pretty good land, but we don't need much corn, +no how, and we can make more money out of tobacco. Of course it +takes lots of manure and fertilizer to grow a good patch of tobacco, +but good tobacco always brings good money." + +"About how much money do you get for an acre of tobacco?" asked +Percy. + +"That varies a lot with the quality and price--sometimes +$100--sometimes $300, when the trust don't hold the price down on +us. We can raise good tobacco and good tobacco brings us good money. +We can always manure an acre or two for tobacco and get our +groceries and some clothes now and then, and that's about all +anybody gets in this world, I reckon. But taxes are mighty high, I +tell you. About $75 to $80 I have to pay. Are taxes high out West?" + +"We pay about forty to fifty cents an acre in the corn belt," Percy +replied; "but, in a course I took in economics, I learned that the +taxes do not vary in proportion to land values. Poor lands, if +inhabited, must always pay heavy taxes; whereas, large areas of good +land carry lighter taxes compared with their earning capacity. You +must provide your regular expenses for county officers, county +courthouse, jail, and poorhouse, about the same as we do. Your roads +and bridges cost as much as ours; and the schools in the South must +cost more than ours, for a complete double system of schools is +usually provided. + +"But did you say that you paid fifty cents an acre in taxes?" asked +Mr. Jones. + +"Yes, about that, in the corn belt," replied Percy, "but not so much +in Southern Illinois where the land is poor. I think the farmers in +that section pay taxes as low as yours. Perhaps twenty cents an +acre." + +"Do you mean to say that you have poor land in Illinois?" + +"Yes, the common prairie land of Southern Illinois must be called +poor as compared with the corn belt land. There is a good deal of +land in Southern Illinois that was put under cultivation before +1820, and eighty crops must have made a heavy draft upon the store +of plant food originally contained in those soils." + +"Only since 1820? Why, we began to till the soil right here, Young +Man, in St. Mary County, in 1634 and don't you know, Sir, that we +had a rebellion here as early as 1645? Yes, Sir, that was one +hundred and seventy-five years before 1820. So you've raised only +eighty crops and the land is already getting poor, and we've raised +two hundred and fifty crops--well, maybe, not quite so many, for +we've been giving our land a good deal of rest for the last fifty or +sixty years; but my grandfather used to raise twenty-five bushels of +wheat to the acre with the help of a hundred pounds of land-plaster, +and I've no doubt I could do it again today if I cared to raise +wheat, but one acre of tobacco is worth ten of wheat, so why should +I bother with wheat?" + +"Twenty-five bushels of wheat per acre," repeated Percy, half to +himself. "The total supply of phosphorus still remaining in the +plowed soil would be sufficient for only twenty more crops like +that. Two hundred years of such crops would require 1600 pounds of +phosphorus, making nearly 1800 pounds at the beginning, if it all +came from the plowed soil. That is one and a half times as much as +is now contained in our common corn belt prairie land." + +"More stuff in our land than in yours, did you say?" questioned the +old man. "I told you we had pretty good soil here, but I've always +allowed your soil was better, but maybe not. I tell you manure lasts +on this land. You can see where you put it for nigh twenty years. +Then we rest our land some and that helps a sight, and if the price +stays up we make good money on tobacco. I'm sorry your land is +getting so poor out West, especially if you can't raise tobacco. +Ever tried tobacco, Young Man?--gosh, but you remind me of one of +them Government fellows who came driving along here once when Bob +and his brothers were plowing corn right here about three years ago. +Bob's my tenant's nigger, and he ain't no fool either, even if he is +colored; but then, to tell the truth, he ain't much colored. Well, I +was sitting under a tree right here smoking and keeping an eye on +the niggers unbeknownst to them when one of them Government fellows +stopped his horse as Bob was turning the end, and says he to Bob: + +"'Your corn seems to be looking mighty yellow?' + +"'Yes, suh,' says Bob. 'Yes, suh, we done planted yellow corn.' + +"'Well, I mean it looks as though you won't get more than half a +crop,' says he. + +"'I reckon not,' says Bob. 'The landlord, he done gets the other +half.' + +"With that the fellow says to Bob: + +"'It seems to me you're mighty near a fool.' + +"'Yes, suh,' says Bob, 'and I'm mighty feared I'll catch it if I +don't get a goin'.' + +"The fellow just gave his horse a cut and drove on, but I liked to +died. He'd been here two or three times pestering me with questions +about raising tobacco. Say, you ain't one of them Government +fellows, are you? They were travelling all around over this county +three years ago, learning how we raised tobacco and all kinds of +crops. They had augers and said they were investigating soils, but I +never heard nothing of 'em since. Have you got an auger to +investigate soils with?" + +Percy was compelled to admit that he had an auger and that he was +trying to learn all he could about the soil. + +He had driven to Mr. Jones' farm because his land happened to be +situated in a large area of Leonardtown loam, and he felt free to +stop and talk with him because he had found him leaning against the +fence, smoking a cob pipe, apparently trying to decide what to do +with some small shocks of corn scattered over a field of about +fifteen acres. + +Percy stepped to the buggy and drew out his soil auger, then +returned to the corn field and begun to bore a hole near where Mr. +Jones was standing. + +"That's the thing," said he, "the same kind of an auger them +fellows had three years ago. Still boring holes, are you? Want to +bore around over my farm again, do you?" + +Percy replied that he would be glad to make borings in several +places in order that he might see about what the soil and subsoil +were like in that kind of land. + +"That's all right, Young Man. Just bore as many holes as you please. +I suppose you'd rather do that than work; but you'll have to excuse +me. I've got a lot to do today, and it's already getting late. I +can't take time again to tell you fellows how to raise tobacco. Good +day." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +ANOTHER LESSON ON TOBACCO + + + + + +THE old man had stuck his cob pipe in a pocket and filled his mouth +with a chew of tobacco. + +He walked by Percy's buggy with the tobacco juice drizzling from the +corners of his mouth, and turned down the road toward the house. + +Percy finished boring the hole and then returned to the buggy. + +"Christ, that old man eats tobacco like a beast!" exclaimed the +driver as Percy approached. + +"Are you speaking to me?" asked Percy. + +"Why, certainly." + +"That is not my name, please," admonished Percy, "but I can tell +you that I know Him well and that He is my best friend." + +"What, old Al Jones?" + +"No,--Christ," replied Percy, with a grieved expression plainly +discernible. + +"Oh," said the driver. + +They drove past the Jones residence and out into the field beyond. +The house one might have thought deserted except for the well-beaten +paths and the presence of chickens in the yard. It was a large +structure with two and a half stories. The cornice and window +trimmings revealed the beauty and wealth of former days. Rare shrubs +still grew in the spacious front yard, and gnarled remnants of +orchard trees were to be seen in the rear. A dozen other buildings, +large and small, occupied the background, some with the roofs partly +fallen, others evidently still in use. + +"How old do you suppose these buildings are?" asked Percy of the +driver. + +"About a hundred years," he replied, "and I reckon they've had no +paint nor fixin' since they was built, 'cept they have to give some +of 'em new shingles now and then or they'd all fall to pieces like +the old barns back yonder." + +Percy examined the soil in several places on the Jones farm and on +other farms in the neighborhood. They lunched on crackers and canned +beans at a country store and made a more extended drive in the +afternoon. + +"It is a fine soil," Percy said to the driver, as they started for +Leonardtown. "It contains enough sand for easy tillage and quick +drainage, and enough clay to hold anything that might be applied to +it." + +"That's right," said the driver. "Where they put plenty of manure +and fertilizer they raise tobacco three foot high and fifteen +hundred pounds to the acre, but where they run the tobacco rows +beyond the manured land so's to be sure and not lose any manure, why +the stuff won't grow six inches high and it just turns yellow and +seems to dry up, no matter if it rains every day. Say, Mister, would +you mind telling me if you're a preacher?" + +"Oh, no," replied Percy, "--I am not a preacher, any more than every +Christian must be loyal to the name." + +"Well, anyway, I've learned a lesson I'll try to remember. I never +thought before about how it might hurt other people when I swear. I +don't mean nothing by it. It's just a habit; but your saying Christ +is your friend makes me feel that I have no business talking about +anybody's friend, any more than I'd like to hear anybody else use my +mother's name as a by-word. I reckon nobody has any right to use +Christ's name 'cept Christians or them as wants to be Christians. I +reckon we'd never heard the name if it hadn't a been for the +Christians. + +"But I don't have so many bad habits. I don't drink, nor smoke, nor +chew; and I don't want to. My father smoked some and chewed a lot, +and I know the smell of tobacco used to make my mother about as sick +as she could be; but she had to stand it, or at least she did stand +it till father died; and now she lives with me, and I'm mighty glad +she don't have to smell no more tobacco + +"She often speaks of it--mother does; and she says she's so thankful +she's got a boy that don't use tobacco. She says men that use +tobacco don't know how bad it is for other folks to smell 'em. Why, +sometimes I come home when I've just been driving a man some place +in the country, riding along like you and I are now, and he a +smoking or chewing, or at least his clothes soaked full of the vile +odor; and when I get home mother says, 'My! but you must have had an +old stink pot along with you to-day.' She can smell it on my +clothes, and I just hang my coat out in the shed till the scent gets +off from it. + +"No, Sir, I don't want any tobacco for me, and I don't know as I'd +care to raise the stuff for other folks to saturate themselves with +either; and every kid is allowed to use it nowadays, or at least +most of them get it. It's easy enough to get it. Why, a kid can't +keep away from getting these cigarettes, if he tries. They're +everywhere. Every kid has hip pockets full; and I know blamed well +that some smoke so many cigarettes they get so they aren't more than +half bright. It's a fact, Sir,--plenty of 'em too; and some old men, +like Al Jones, are just so soaked in tobacco they seem about half +dead. Course it ain't like whiskey, but I think it's worse than beer +if beer didn't make one want whiskey later. + +"But as I was saying, I feel that I have no business saying things +about,--about anybody you call your friend, and I think I'll just +swear off swearing, if I can." + +"You can if you will just let Him be your friend." + +"Well, I don't know much about that," was the slow reply. "That +takes faith, and I don't have much faith in some of the church +members I know." + +"That used to trouble me also," said Percy, "until one time the +thought impressed itself upon me that even Christ himself did all +His great work with one of the twelve a traitor; and this thought +always comes to me now when self-respecting men object to uniting +with organized Christianity because of those who may be regarded as +traitors or hypocrites, but not of such flagrant character as to +insure expulsion from the Church?" + +"Do you believe in miracles?" asked the driver. + +"Oh, yes," said Percy, "in such miracles as the growth of the corn +plant." + +"Why, that isn't any miracle. Everybody understands all about that." + +"Not everybody," replied Percy. "There is only One who understands +it. There is only one great miracle, and that is the miracle of +life. It is said that men adulterate coffee, even to the extent of +making the bean or berry so nearly like the natural that it requires +an expert to detect the fraud; but do you think an imitation seed +would grow?" + +"No, it wouldn't grow," said the driver. + +"Not only that," said Percy, "but we may have a natural and perfect +grain of corn and it can never be made to grow by any or all of the +knowledge and skill of men, if for a single instant the life +principle has left the kernel, which may easily result by changing +its temperature a few degrees above or below the usual range. The +spark of life returns to God who gave it, and man is as helpless to +restore it as when he first walked the earth. + +"What miracle do you find hard to accept?" asked Percy. + +"How could Jesus know that Lazarus had died when he was on the other +side of the mountain?" + +"I don't know," Percy replied; "perhaps by some sort of wireless +message which his soul could receive. I don't know how, but it was +no greater miracle than it would have been then to have done what I +did last week." + +The driver turned to look squarely at Percy as though in doubt of +his sanity, but a kindly smile reassured him. + +"Our train coming into Cincinnati ran in two sections," Percy +continued, "and the section behind us was wrecked, three travellers +being killed and about fifteen others wounded. I was sure my mother +would hear of the wreck before I could reach her with a letter, and +so I talked with her from Cincinnati over the long distance 'phone, +with which we have always had connection since I first went away to +college. Yes, I talked with her, and, though separated by a distance +three times the entire length of Palestine, I distinctly heard and +recognized my mother's voice. Oh, yes, I believe in miracles; but +that is a matter of small consequence. The important thing is that +we have faith in God and faith in Jesus Christ, his Son." + +"Well, that's what troubles me," said the driver. "How's one to get +faith?" + +"There are two methods of receiving faith," replied Percy. "Faith +cometh by prayer." "Yes, Sir, I believe that." "And, faith cometh by +hearing." "Hearing what?" "Hearing by the Word of God; hearing those +who have studied His Word and who testify of Him; and hearing with +an ear ready to receive the truth." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +EIGHTEEN TO ONE + + + + + +TWO days later Percy was in Rhode Island visiting a farm owned by +Samuel Robbins, one of the most progressive and successful farmers +of that State. + +Mr. Robbins' farm lay in what appeared to be an ancient valley, +several miles in width, although only a small stream now winds +through it to the sea seven miles away. + +"So you are from Illinois," said Mr. Robbins, after Percy had +introduced himself and explained the nature of his visit. "The +papers have a good deal to say about the corn you grow in Illinois; +but have you noticed that the Government reports show our average +yield of corn in New England is higher than yours in Illinois?" + +"Yes, Sir," Percy replied, "I have noticed that and I have come to +Rhode Island to learn how to raise more corn per acre. I have +noticed, however, that New England corn does not occupy a large +acreage." + +Well, now, we count corn as one of our big crops, next to hay. +You'll see plenty of corn fields right here in Rhode Island." + +"Would you believe that we actually raise more corn on one farm in +Illinois than the total corn crop of Rhode Island?" + +"You don't tell!" + +"Yes," said Percy, "the Isaac Funk farm in McLean County grows more +corn on seven thousand acres a year, with an average yield certainly +above fifty bushels per acre, and surely making a total above +350,000 bushels; while the State of Rhode Island grows corn on +nearly ten thousand acres with an average yield of thirty-two +bushels, making a total yield of about 320,000 bushels." + +"Well, I'll give it up; but I'd like to know how much corn you raise +in the whole State of Illinois." + +"Our average production," said Percy, "is about equal to the total +production of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode +Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, +Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, +Alabama, and Mississippi." + +"Eighteen of us!" exclaimed Mr. Robbins, who had counted on his +fingers from New York to Mississippi. "And you come to Rhode Island +to learn how to raise corn?" + +"Yes, I came to learn how you raise more than thirty-five bushels of +corn per acre as an average for New England, while we raise less +than thirty-five bushels as an average in Illinois, and while +Georgia, a larger State than Illinois, raises only eleven bushels +per acre as a ten year average. Illinois is a new State, but I call +to mind that Roger Williams settled in Rhode Island in 1636 and that +he was joined by many others coming not only from Massachusetts but +also from other sections. I assume that much of the land in Rhode +Island has been farmed for 250 years, and the fact that you are +still producing more than thirty bushels of corn per acre, as an +average, is, it seems to me, a fact of great significance. I suppose +you use all the manure you can make from the crops you raise and +perhaps use some commercial fertilizer also. I should like to know +what yield of corn you produce without any manure or fertilizer?" + +"We don't produce any," said Mr. Robbins; "at least we know we +wouldn't produce any corn without fertilizing the land in one way or +another. If you will walk over here a little ways you can see for +yourself. I didn't have quite enough manure to finish this field and +I had no more time to haul seaweed so I planted without getting any +manure on a few rods in one corner, and the corn there wouldn't make +three bushels from an acre. I didn't bother to try to cut it, but +the cows will get what little fodder there is as soon as I can get +the shocks out of the field and turn 'em in for a few days to pick +up what they can." + +Percy examined the corn plants still standing in the corner of the +field. They had grown to a height of about two feet. Most of them +had tassels and many of them appeared to have little ears, but +really had only husks containing no ear. In a few places where the +hill contained only one plant a little nubbin of corn could be +found. + +"I don't mean to let any of my land get as poor as this field was," +continued Mr. Robbins, "but I just couldn't get to it, and I left it +in hay about two years longer than I should have done. Last year was +first class for hay but this field had been down so long it was +hardly worth cutting." + +"About what yield do you get from the manured land?" inquired Percy. + +"In a fair year I get about forty bushels, and that's about what I +am getting this year from my best fields. You see there's lots of +corn in these shocks. There's about an average ear, and we get five +or six ears to the hill." + +"Eight-row flint," said Percy, as he took the ear in his hand and +drew a celluloid paper knife from his vest pocket with a six-inch +scale marked on one side. + +"Yes, Sir, our regular Rhode Island White Cap." + +"Just five inches long. Weight about three ounces?" + +"Perhaps. We count on about four hundred ears to the bushel. If we +get four thousand hills to the acre one ear to the hill would give +us ten bushels per acre, so you see we only have to have four ears +to the hill to make our forty bushels. A good many hills have five +to six ears, but then of course, some hills don't have much of any, +so I suppose my corn makes an average of four ears about like that." + +"I suppose you feed all of the corn you raise in order to produce as +much manure as possible." + +"Feed that corn! Not much we don't. Why, corn like that brings us +close on to a dollar a bushel. No, Sir, we don't feed this corn. +It's all used for meal. It makes the best kind of corn meal. No, we +buy corn for feed; western corn. Oh, we feed lots of corn; three +times as much as we raise; but we don't feed dollar corn, when we +can buy western corn for seventy-five or eighty cents. + +"I sell corn and I sell potatoes; that's all except the milk. I keep +most of my land in meadow and pasture and feed everything I raise +except the corn and potatoes. And milk is a good product with us. We +average about sixty cents a pound for butter fat, and it's ready +money every month; and, of course, we need it every month to pay for +feed." + +"Then you produce on the farm all the manure you use," suggested +Percy, "but I think you mentioned hauling seaweed." + +"Yes, and I haul some manure, too, when I can get it; but usually +there are three or four farmers ready to take every load of town +manure." + +"You get it from town for the hauling?" + +"Well, I guess not," said Mr. Robbins emphatically and with apparent +astonishment at such a question. "I don't think I would haul seaweed +seven miles if I could get manure in town for nothing. Manure is +worth $1.50 a ton Iying in the livery stable, and there are plenty +to take it at that right along. I'd a little rather pay that than +haul seaweed; but the manure won't begin to go around, and so +there's nothing left for us but seaweed; and, if we couldn't get +that, the Lord only knows what we could do." + +"How much seaweed can you haul to a load, and about how many loads +do you apply to the acre?" + +"When the roads are good we haul a cord and a quarter, and we put +ten or twelve loads to the acre for corn and then use some +commercial fertilizer." + +"Do you know how much a cord of the seaweed would weigh?" + +"Yes, a cord weighs about a ton and a half." + +"Then you apply about twenty tons of seaweed to the acre for corn?" + +"Yes, but some use less and some more; probably that's about an +average. Hauling seaweed's a big job and a bad job. We have to start +from home long before daylight so as to get there and get the weed +while the tide is out, and then we get back with our load about two +o'clock in the afternoon; and, by the time we eat and feed the team, +and get the load to the field and spread, there isn't much time left +that day, especially when you've got to pile out of bed about two +o'clock the next morning and hike off for another load." + +"Then you use some fertilizer in addition to the seaweed? May I ask +how much fertilizer you apply to the acre and about how much it +costs per ton?" + +"Where we spread seaweed for corn, we add about four hundred and +fifty pounds per acre of fertilizer that costs me $26 a ton, but I +have the agency and get it some cheaper than most have to pay. Then +for potatoes we apply about 1500 pounds of a special potato +fertilizer that costs me $34 a ton." + +"The fertilizer costs you about $6 an acre for the corn crop and $25 +for potatoes," said Percy; "and then you have the cost of the +seaweed. I should think you would need to count about $25 or $30 an +acre for the expense of hauling seaweed." + +"Yes, all of that if we had to pay for the work, but of course we +can haul seaweed more or less when the farm work isn't crowding, and +we don't count so much on the expense. It doesn't take the cash, +except may be a little for a boy to drive one team when we haul two +loads at a time; and we don't use seaweed for potatoes. The corn +crop will generally more'n pay for it and the fertilizer too; and +the seaweed helps for three or four years, especially for grass. +There's good profit in potatoes, too, when we get a crop, but +they're risky, considering the money we have to pay for fertilizer." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +FARMER OR PROFESSOR + + + + + +AFTER leaving Rhode Island, Percy spent two days in and about +Boston, and then returned to Connecticut for a day. The weather had +turned cold; the ground had frozen and the falling snow reminded him +that it was the day before Thanksgiving. + +From New London he took a night boat to New York, and then took +passage on a Coast Line vessel from New York to Norfolk. + +The weather had cleared and the wind decreased until it was scarcely +greater than the speed of the ship. + +Whether or not the dining room service was extraordinary because of +the day, Percy was soon convinced that the only way to travel was by +boat. He regretted only that his mother was not with him to enjoy +that day. For hours they coasted southward within easy view of the +New Jersey shore, dotted here and there with cities, towns, and +villages. Light houses marked the rocky points where danger once +lurked for the men of the sea. + +The sea itself was of constant interest; and hundreds of craft were +passed or met. Here a full-rigged sailing vessel lazily drifting +with the wind; there a giant little tug puffing in the opposite +direction with a string of barges in tow loaded almost to the +water's edge. + +Norfolk was reached early the next morning, and before noon Percy +passed through Petersburg on his way to Montplain. He changed cars +at Lynchburg and arrived at Montplain before dark. In accordance +with a promise to Mr. West he had notified him of his plans. + +Would Adelaide met him, and if so would she have the family carriage +and again insist upon his riding in the rear seat? He had found +these questions in his mind repeatedly since he left New London, +with no very definite purpose before him except to arrive at +Montplain at the appointed time. + +Yes, it was the family carriage. He saw the farm team tied across +the street from the depot. As he left the train he caught a glimpse +of Adelaide standing with the group of people who were waiting to +board the train. She extended her hand as he reached her side. + +"Mr. Johnston, meet my cousin, Professor Barstow." + +"I am glad to meet you, Professor," said Percy, as he shook hands +with a tall young man about his own age. Percy noted his handsome +face and gentlemanly bearing. + +"Miss Adelaide calls me cousin," said Barstow, "because my aunt +married her uncle." + +"Well, Sir, if we're not cousins, then I'm Miss West and not Miss +Adelaide. Is that too much for an absent-minded professor to +remember?" + +"I am afraid it is," said Barstow, "and I am sure I would rather be +cousins." + +"Professor Barstow leaves on this train," Adelaide explained to +Percy; "excuse me, please." + +Percy raised his hat as he stepped back from the crowd and waited +for the parting of the two. He was sure that Barstow held her hand +longer than was necessary, and he also noticed that her face flushed +as she rejoined him after the train started. + +"Will you take the rear seat?" she asked. as they reached the +carriage. + +"If you so prefer." + +"That seat is for our guests, so I don't prefer," came her reply, +which left Percy wholly in the dark as to her wishes. + +"Then let me be your coachman rather than your guest." + +"If you so prefer," she repeated, and without waiting for assistance +quickly mounted to the front seat, leaving him to occupy the +driver's seat beside her. + +"Captain and Mrs. Stone of Montplain were with us for Thanksgiving +and I came with the carriage to take them home. Professor Barstow +has also been spending his Thanksgiving vacation visiting with +papa." + +"Thank you," said Percy, as he took the lines and turned the horses +toward Westover. + +"You are certainly welcome to drive this team if you enjoy it." + +"I thank you for that also," said Percy. Adelaide noted the word +_also, _but she only remarked that she hoped he had enjoyed his +travels, though she could not understand what pleasure he could find +in visiting old worn-out farms. + +"Of all things," she continued, "it seems to me that farming is the +last that anyone would want to undertake." + +"It is both the first and the last," said Percy. "As you know, when +our ancestors came to America, agriculture was the first great +industry they were able to develop. Other industries and professions +follow agriculture and must be supported in large measure by the +agricultural industry. Merchants, lawyers, doctors and teachers are +in a sense agricultural parasites." + +An hour before he would not have included teachers in this class; +for, next to the mother in the home, he felt that the teacher in the +school is the greatest necessity for the highest development of the +agricultural classes. + +"Without agriculture," he continued, "America could never have been +developed, and, unless the prosperity of American agriculture can be +maintained, poverty is the only future for this great nation. The +soil is the greatest source of wealth, and it is the most permanent +form of wealth. The Secretary of Agriculture at Washington told me a +few days ago that eighty-six per cent. of the raw materials used in +all our manufacturing industry are produced from the soil. + +"Yes, agriculture is certainly the first industry in this country; +and I am fully convinced that to restore the fertility of the +depleted soils of the East and South, and even to maintain the +productive power of the great agricultural regions of the West, +deserves and will require the best thought of the most influential +people of America. + +"Throughout the length and breadth of this land, the almost +universal purpose of the farmers is to work the land for all they +can get with practically no thought of permanency. The most common +remark of the corn belt farmer is that his land doesn't show much +wear yet; and it is holding up pretty well, or as well as could be +expected; or that he thinks it will last as long as he does. All +recognize that the land cannot hold up under the systems of farming +that are being practiced, and these systems are essentially the same +as have been followed in America since 1607. What the Southern +farmer did with slave labor, the Western farmer is now doing with +the gang plow, the two-row cultivator, and the four-horse disks and +harrows. In addition he tile-drains his land which helps to insure +larger crops and more rapid soil depletion. He even uses clover as a +soil stimulant, and spreads the farm fertilizer as thinly as +possible with a machine made for the purpose in order to secure both +its plant food value and its stimulating effect. Positive soil +enrichment is practically unknown in the great corn belt. + +"Robbery is a harsh word; and yet the farmers and landowners of +America are and always have been soil robbers; and they not only rob +the nation of the possibility of permanent prosperity, but they even +rob themselves of the very comforts of life in their old age and +their children and grandchildren of a rightful inheritance. + +"Worse than all this, or at least more lamentable, is the fact that +it need not be. The soils of Virginia need not have become worn out +and abandoned; because the earth and the air are filled with the +elements of plant food that are essential to the restoration and +permanent maintenance of the high productive capacity of these +soils. Moreover there is more profit and greater prosperity for the +present landowner in a possible practicable system of positive soil +improvement than under any system which leads to ultimate depletion +and abandonment of the land. + +"The profit in farming lies first of all in securing large crop +yields. It costs forty bushels of corn per acre in Illinois to raise +the crop and pay the rent for the land or interest and taxes on the +investment. With land worth $150 an acre, it will require $8 to pay +the interest and taxes. Another $8 will be required to raise the +crop and harvest and market it, even with very inadequate provision +made for maintaining the productive power of the soil, such as a +catch crop of clover, or a very light dressing of farm fertilizer. A +forty-bushel crop of corn at forty cents a bushel, which is about +the ten year average price for Illinois, would bring only $16 an +acre, and this would leave no profit whatever. + +"A crop of fifty bushels would leave only ten bushels as profit; +but, if we could double the yield and thus produce a hundred bushels +per acre, the profit would not be doubled only, but it would be six +times as great as from the fifty bushel crop. In other words, 100 +bushels of corn from one acre would yield practically the same +profit as fifty bushels per acre from six acres, simply because it +requires the first forty bushels from each acre to pay for the fixed +charges or regular expense. + +"It is not the amount of crop the farmer handles, but the amount of +actual profit that determines his prosperity. It requires profit to +build the new home or repair the old one, to provide the home with +the comforts and conveniences that are now to be had in the country +as well as in the city; to send the boys and girls to college; to +provide for the expense of travel and the luxuries of the home." + +Percy stopped himself with an apology. + +"I hope you will pardon me, Miss West. I forget that this subject +may be of no interest to you, and I have completely monopolized the +conversation." + +"I am glad you have told me so much," she replied. "I am deeply +interested in what you have been saying. I never realized that +agriculture could involve such very important questions in regard to +our national prosperity. I only know that our farm has furnished us +with a living but there has been very little of what you call +profit. We children could never have gone away to school except that +we were enabled to take advantage of some unusual opportunities. My +brother almost earned his expenses as commissary in a boarding club +at college. He felt that he could not come home for Thanksgiving +because he had a chance to earn something and I have missed him so +much. Most farmers get barely enough from their farms in these parts +to furnish them a modest living and pay their taxes." + +"That reminds me of your statement that farming is the last thing +that you would expect anyone to undertake. In a large sense that is +in accordance with the history of all great agricultural countries. +After the great wave of easy spoilation of the land has passed, and +the farmers reach a condition under which they need most of what +they produce for their own consumption, the parasites are themselves +forced to produce their own food. The lands become divided into +smaller holdings and the agricultural inhabitants increase rapidly +in proportion to the urban population which must depend upon the +profits from secondary pursuits for a living. Thus ninety-five per +cent. of the three hundred million people of India belong +principally to the agricultural classes, and the farms of India +average about two to three acres in size. Farming there is in no +sense a profit-yielding business, but it is only a means of +existence. The people live upon what they raise, so far as they can, +although, as you must know, India is almost never free from famine. +In Russia, the situation is but little better, for famine follows if +the yield of wheat falls two bushels below the average. Special +agents of the Bureau of Statistics of the United States Department +of Agriculture report that at least one famine year occurs in each +five year period, and sometimes even two; that the famine years are +so frequent they are recognized as a permanent feature of Russian +agriculture." + +"But couldn't those poor starving people do some other kind of work +and thus earn a better living?" asked Adelaide. + +"No. Agriculture is the only hope," said Percy. "The soil is the +breast of Mother Earth, from which her children must always draw +their nourishment, or perish. It is the 'last thing,' as you truly +said. Aside from hunting and fishing, there is no source of food +except the soil, and, when this is insufficient for the people who +produce it in the country, God pity the poor people who live in the +cities. But let us not talk of this more. I ought not to have taken +up the time of our ride through this beautiful scenery with a +subject which tends always toward the serious. The leaves are all +gone in New England, but here they have only taken on their most +beautiful colors. 'What is so rare as a day in June?' could now well +be answered, 'a day in November in Piedmont, Virginia.'" + +"Do you know if your father received a letter for me from the +chemist to whom I sent the soil samples?" + +"Yes, it came in Wednesday's mail, and there is a letter from the +University of Illinois and two others that Grandma says must be from +a lady. Papa says he is anxious to know what results would be found +in the chemist's report. May I listen while you tell papa about it? +Indeed, I am extremely interested to know if anything can be done to +make our farm produce such crops as it used to when grandmother was +a little girl." + +"Still I fear you will find it a very tiresome subject," said Percy. +"It is, as a rule, not an easy matter to adopt a system of permanent +improvement on land that has been depleted by a century or more of +exhaustive husbandry. but you will be very welcome not only to +listen but to counsel also. My mother can measure difficulties in +advance better than most men; and I believe it is true that women +will deliberately plan and follow a course involving greater +hardship and privation than men would undertake. I cannot conceive +of any man doing what my mother has done for me." + +Adelaide glanced at Percy as he spoke of his mother. Something in +his words or voice seemed to reveal to her a depth of feeling, a +wealth of affection akin to reverence, such as she had never +recognized before. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE ULTIMATE COMPARISON + + + + + +WILKES was at the side gate to meet Adelaide and Percy, and the +grandmother stood at the door as they reached the veranda. + +"Lucky for us you got back before the Thanksgiving scraps are all +gone," she said to Percy, "but I suppose even our Thanksgiving fare +will be poor picking after you've been living in Washington and +Boston." + +"Even the Thanksgiving dinner on the boat was not equal to this," +said Percy, as they sat down to the table loaded with such an +abundance of good things as is rarely seen except on the farmer's +table. The "scraps," if such there were, had no appearance of being +left-overs, and there was monster turkey, browned to perfection and +sizzling hot, placed before Mr. West ready for the carving knife. + +Percy had opened the letter from the chemist, but said to Mr. West +that it would take him an hour or more to compute the results to the +form of the actual elements and reduce them to pounds per acre in +order to make possible a direct comparison between the requirements +of crops, on the one hand, and the invoice of the soil and +application of plant food in manure and fertilizers, on the other +hand. + +"Please let me help you make the computations," said Adelaide, much +to the surprise of her parents, who knew that she took no interest +in affairs pertaining to farming. "I like mathematics and will +promise not to make any mistakes if you will tell me how to do some +of the figuring." + +"Thank you," said Percy. "With your help it will take only half the +time that I should require alone." + +This proved to be correct, for in half an hour after supper they had +the results in simplified form. Even the mother and grandmother +joined the circle as Percy began to discuss the results with Mr. +West + +"Now here is the invoice," said Percy, "of the surface soil from an +acre of land where we collected the first composite sample,--the +land which you said had not been cropped since you could remember. +This soil contains plant food as follows: + +1,440 pounds of nitrogen +380 pounds of phosphorus +15,760 pounds of potassium +3,340 pounds of magnesium +10,420 pounds of calcium + +"I'd like to know how these amounts compare with what your Illinois +soil contains," said Mr. West. + +"We have several different kinds of soil in Illinois," replied +Percy. "The common corn belt prairie soil is called brown silt loam. +It contains, as an average, 5000 pounds of nitrogen and 1200 pounds +of phosphorus, or nearly four times as much of each of those +elements as this Virginia soil which you say is too poor to +cultivate. + +"I wrote to the Illinois Experiment Station before I left Washington +to see if I could get the average composition of the heavier prairie +soil, which occupies the very flat areas that were originally +swampy, and one of the letters you had received for me gives 8000 +pounds of nitrogen and 2000 pounds of phosphorus as the general +average for that soil. That is our most productive land, and it +contains about five times as much of these two very important +elements as your poorest land. + +"Our more common Illinois prairie contains about 35,000 pounds of +potassium, 9,000 pounds of magnesium, and I 1,000 pounds of calcium. +This is more than twice as much potassium and nearly three times as +much magnesium as in your poorest land, but the calcium content is +about the same in your soil as in ours. However, as you will +remember, your soil is distinctly acid and consequently markedly in +need of lime, the magnesium and calcium evidently being contained in +part in the form of acid silicates with no carbonates; whereas, our +brown silt loam is a neutral soil and our black clay loam contains +much calcium carbonate, the same compound as pure limestone." + +"I am anxious to know about our best land," said Mr. West. "What +did the chemist find in the soil from the slope where we get the +best corn after breaking up the old pastures?" + +"He found the following amounts in the surface soil," said Percy. + +800 pounds of nitrogen + +1,660 pounds of phosphorus + +34, 100 pounds of potassium + +8,500 pounds of magnesium + +13,100 pounds of calcium + +"Rich in everything but nitrogen," Percy continued, "richer than our +common prairies in phosphorus and calcium, and nearly as rich in +potassium and magnesium; but very, very poor in nitrogen. Legume +plants ought to grow well on that land, because the minerals are +present in abundance, and, while lack of nitrogen in the soil will +limit the yield of all grains and grasses, there is no nitrogen +limit for the legume plants if infected with the proper +nitrogen-fixing bacteria, provided, of course, that the soil is not +acid. You will remember, however, that even this sloping land is +more or less acid, although here and there we found pieces of +undecomposed limestone. With a liberal use of ground limestone, any +legumes suited to this soil and climate ought to grow luxuriantly on +those slopes." + +"That reminds me that we are greatly troubled with Japan clover on +those slopes," said Mr. West. "Of course it makes good pasture for a +few months, but it doesn't come so early in the spring as blue grass +and it is killed with the first heavy frost in the fall. We like +blue grass much better for that reason, but when we seed down for +meadow and pasture, the Japan clover always crowds out the timothy +and blue grass on those slopes." + +"And when you plow under the Japan clover, you get one or two good +crops of grain," said Percy, "because this clover has stored up some +much needed nitrogen and the soil is rich in all other necessary +elements. Have you ever tried alfalfa on that kind of land? That is +a crop that ought to do well there, especially if limestone were +applied." + +"Yes, I have tried alfalfa," replied Mr. West, "and I tried it on a +strip that ran across one of those steep slopes; but it failed +completely, and, as I remember it, it was poorer on that hillside +than on the more level land." + +"Did you inoculate it?" Percy asked. + +"Inoculate it? No. I didn't do anything to it, but just sow it the +same as I sow red clover." + +"What does it mean to inoculate it?" asked Adelaide. + +"It means to put some bugs on it," said the grandmother; "some germs +or microbes, or whatever they are called. Don't you remember, +Adelaide, that I told you about that when I read it in the magazine +a while ago? Don't you remember that somebody was making it and a +man could carry enough in his vest pocket to fertilize an acre and +he wanted $2 a package. Charles said that $1.50 a hundred was more +than he could afford to pay for fertilizer, and he didn't care to +pay $2 for a vest pocket package. Isn't that the stuff, Mr. +Johnston?" + +"It listens like it, as the Swedes say," said Percy, "but the +advertisements of these germ cultures put out by commercial +interests are usually very misleading. The safest and best and least +expensive method of inoculating a field for alfalfa is to use +infested soil taken from some old alfalfa field or from a patch of +ground where the common sweet clover, or mellilotus, has been +growing for several years. I saw the sweet clover growing along the +railroad near Montplain, and there is one patch on the roadside +right where--when you enter the valley on the way to the station." + +"Right where Adelaide smashed that nigger's eye with her heel and +helped Mr. Johnston capture them both," broke in the grandmother. +"That's the only good thing I can say for her peg heeled shoes." + +Adelaide colored and Percy now understood what had been a puzzle to +him. + +"The same bacteria," he went on quickly, "live upon both the sweet +clover and the alfalfa, or at least they are interchangeable. These +bacteria are not a fertilizer in any ordinary sense, but they are +more in the nature of a disease, a kind of tuberculosis, as it were; +except that they do much more good than harm. They attack the very +tender young roots of the alfalfa and feed upon the nutritious sap, +taking from it the phosphorus and other minerals and also the sugar +or other carbohydrates needed for their own nourishment, since they +have no power to secure carbon and oxygen from the air, as is done +by all plants with green leaves. On the other hand, these bacteria +have power to take the free nitrogen of the air, which enters the +pores of the soil to some extent, and cause it to combine with food +materials which are secured from the alfalfa sap, and thus the +bacteria secure for themselves both nitrogen and the other essential +plant foods. The alfalfa root or rootlet becomes enlarged at the +point attacked by the bacteria, and a sort of wart or tubercle is +formed which resembles a tiny potato, as large as clover seed on +clover or alfalfa, and, singularly, about as large as peas on +cowpeas or soy beans. On plants that are sparsely infected, these +tubercles develop to a large size and often in clusters. While the +bacteria themselves are extremely small and can be seen only by the +aid of a powerful microscope, the tubercles in which they live are +easily seen, and they are sufficient to enable us to know whether +the plants are infected." + +"I wish you would tell me the difference between the words +inoculated and infected," said Adelaide. + +"Inoculated is used in the active sense and infected in the +passive," said Percy. "Thus the red clover growing in the field is +infected if there are tubercles on its roots, although it may never +have been inoculated; and we inoculate alfalfa because it would not +be likely to become infected without direct inoculation." + +"Under favorable conditions," continued Percy, "these bacteria +multiply with tremendous rapidity, somewhat as the germs of small +pox or yellow fever multiply if allowed to do so. A single tubercle +may contain a million germs which if distributed uniformly over an +acre would furnish more than twenty bacteria for every square foot." + +"There, Charles," said the grandmother, "wouldn't a vest pocketful +of those bugs or germs be a big enough dose for one acre?" + +"Well, but they're not a fertilizer, Mother," said Mr. West, "and +besides Mr. Johnston says it is better to use the infected sweet +clover soil and there is no need of paying $2 an acre for something +we knew nothing about, and especially on land that is not worth more +than $2 an acre." + +"I don't care what it's worth," she replied, "some of it cost your +grandfather $68 an acre, and it will never be sold for any $2, while +I have any say so about it." + +They waited for Percy to proceed. + +"The individual bacteria are very short-lived," he continued, "and +products of decay soon begin to accumulate in the tubercles. These +products contain, in combined form, nitrogen which the bacteria have +taken from the air, and in this form it is taken from the tubercles +and absorbed through the roots into the host plant and thus serves +as a source of nitrogen for all of the agricultural legumes. + +"It should be kept in mind, of course, that the red clover has one +kind of nitrogen-fixing bacteria, that the cowpea has a different +kind, and that the soy bean bacteria are still different, while a +fourth kind lives on the roots of alfalfa and sweet clover." + +"How much infected sweet clover soil would I need to inoculate an +acre of land for alfalfa?" asked Mr. West. + +"If the soil is thoroughly infected, a hundred pounds to the acre +will do very well if applied at the same time the alfalfa seed is +sown and immediately harrowed in with the seed. If allowed to lie +for several hours or days exposed to the sunshine after being spread +over the land the bacteria will be destroyed, for like most +bacteria, such as those which lurk in milk pails to sour the milk, +they are killed by the sunshine." + +" That's right," said the grandmother. "That's the way to sterilize +milk pails and pans and crocks. I like crocks better than pans. They +don't have any sort of joints to dig out." + +"Of course," continued Percy, "a wagon load of infected soil will +make a more perfect inoculation than a hundred pounds, and where it +costs nothing but the hauling it is well to use a liberal amount." + +"How deep should it be taken?" asked Mr. West. + +"About the same depth as you would plow. The tubercles are mostly +within six or eight inches of the surface. The bacteria depend upon +the nitrogen of the air and this must enter the surface soil. +Sometimes in wet weather the tubercles can be found almost at the +surface of the ground, and when the ground cracks one can often find +tubercles sticking out in the cracks an inch or two beneath the +surface but protected from direct sunshine. + +"These bacteria have power to furnish very large amounts of nitrogen +to such a crop as alfalfa. The Illinois Station reports having grown +eight and one-half tons of alfalfa per acre in one season. It was +harvested in four cuttings. The hay itself was worth at least $6 a +ton above all expenses, which would bring $51 an acre net profit for +one year. Of course this was above the average, which is only about +four and one-half tons over a series of several years. But suppose +you can save only three tons and get $6 a ton net for it, as you +could easily do by feeding it to your cattle and sheep. That would +bring $18 an acre or six per cent. interest on $300 land. I am +altogether confident that this could be done on your sloping +hillsides, with their rich supplies of phosphorus and other mineral +foods, provided, of course, that you use plenty of ground limestone +and thoroughly inoculate the soil." + +"Well, I shall certainly try alfalfa again," said Mr. West, "and if +I can grow such crops of alfalfa as you think on the hillsides, I +can have much more farm manure produced for the improvement of the +rest of the land. By the way what did that chemist find in that +sample you took of the other land where it does not wash so much as +on the steeper slopes." + +"He found the following: + +1,030 pounds of nitrogen +1,270 pounds of phosphorus +16,500 pounds of potassium +7,460 pounds of magnesium +16,100 pounds of calcium + +"Well, the phosphorus is not so low," said Mr. West. + +"Fully equal to that in our $150 Illinois prairie," replied Percy, +"and again the calcium is more than ours, with magnesium not far +below, and potassium half our supply. Nitrogen is plainly the most +serious problem on most of this farm, and limestone and legumes must +solve that problem if properly used." + +"Do you think this land could be made as valuable as the Illinois +land just by a liberal use of limestone and legumes?" asked +Adelaide. + +"I should have some doubt about that," Percy replied. "Your very +level uplands that neither lose nor receive material from surface +washing are very deficient in phosphorus and much poorer than ours +in potassium and magnesium; and your undulating and steeply sloping +lands are more or less broken, with many rock outcrops on the points +and some impassable gullies, which as a rule compel the cultivation +of the land in small irregular fields. A three-cornered field of +from two to fifteen acres can never have quite the same value per +acre as the land where forty or eighty acres of corn can be grown in +a body with no necessity of omitting a single hill. Then there is +some unavoidable loss from surface washing, so that to maintain the +supply of organic matter and nitrogen will require a larger use of +legumes than on level land of equal richness. In addition to this is +the initial difference in humus content. This is well measured by +the nitrogen content. While your soil contains eight hundred pounds +of nitrogen on the steeper slopes and one thousand pounds on the +more gently undulating areas, ours contains five thousand pounds in +the brown silt loam and eight thousand pounds in the heavier black +clay loam. This means that our Illinois prairie soil contains from +five to ten times as much humus, or organic matter, as your best +upland soil. To supply this difference in humus would require the +addition of from four hundred to eight hundred tons per acre of +average farm manure, or the plowing under of one hundred to two +hundred tons of air-dry clover. This represents the great reserve of +the Illinois prairie soils above the total supplies remaining in +your soils. + +"Our farmers are still producing crops very largely by drawing on +this reserve. Of course most of this great supply of humus is very +old. It represents the organic residues most resistant to +decomposition; and, where corn and oats are grown exclusively, the +soil has reached a condition on many farms under which the +decomposition of the reserve organic matter is so slow that the +nitrogen liberated from its own decay and the minerals liberated +from the soil by the action of the decomposition products are not +sufficient to meet the requirements of large crops, and for this +reason alone some of our lands that are still rich are said to be +run down; but they only require a moderate use of clover or farm +manure or other fresh and active organic matter to at once restore +their productiveness to a point almost equal to the yields from the +virgin soil. Some Illinois farmers who have discovered this apparent +restoration have jumped to the conclusion that they have solved the +problem of permanently maintaining the fertility of the soil; and I +judge from a remark made by the Secretary of Agriculture that some +Iowa farmers have the same mistaken notions. + +"These fresh supplies of active organic matter serve primarily as +soil stimulants, hastening the liberation of nitrogen from the +organic reserve and of minerals from the inorganic soil materials. + +"Where one of the Eastern farmers has managed a farm under the +rotation system with the occasional use of clover or light +applications of farm manure,--where this has been continued until +the great reserve is largely gone, and the phosphorus supply greatly +depleted, then the land is truly run down, but not until then. + +"Finally, land-plaster and quick-lime, still more powerful soil +stimulants, are often brought into the system to bring about a more +complete exhaustion of the soil reserves, and lastly the use of +small amounts of high-priced commercial fertilizers serves to put +the land in suitable condition for ultimate abandonment." + +"Do you mean that commercial fertilizers injure the soil?" asked Mr. +West. + +"Well, to some extent they injure the soil because they tend to +destroy the limestone and increase the acidity of the soil, and also +because they contain more or less manufactured land-plaster and thus +serve as soil stimulants; but the chief point to keep in mind +concerning the use of the common so-called complete commercial +fertilizer is that they are too expensive to permit their use in +sufficient quantities to positively enrich the soil. Thus the farmer +may apply two hundred pounds of such a fertilizer at a cost of $3.00 +an acre, and then harvest a crop of wheat, two crops of hay, pasture +for another year or two, plow up the grounds for corn, apply another +two hundred pounds for the corn crop, follow with a crop of oats, +and then repeat. He thus harvests five crops and pastures a year or +two and applies perhaps four hundred pounds of fertilizer at a cost +of $6.00. + +"As an average of the most common commercial fertilizers sold to the +farmers in the Eastern and Southern States, the four hundred pounds +would add to the soil seven pounds of nitrogen, fourteen pounds of +phosphorus and seven pounds of potassium, while a single +fifty-bushel crop of corn will remove from the soil ten times as +much nitrogen, five times as much potassium, and nearly as much +phosphorus as the total amounts applied in this six-year or +seven-year rotation. + +"In this manner the farmer extends the time during which he can take +from the soil crops whose value exceed their cost. He applies only +one-fourth or possibly one-half as much of the most deficient +element as the crops harvested require, and thus he continues for a +longer time to 'work the land for all that's in it! '" + +"Well, isn't that the limit?" said Adelaide, with emphasis on the +"isn't," for which she received a disapproving look from her mother, +so far as her almost angel-face could give such a look. + +"So far as human ingenuity has yet devised," replied Percy, "this +system appears to be the limit; but this limit has not yet been +reached on any Westover soil. If anyone can devise a method for +extending this limit he should apply it on a type of soil covering +more than two-fifths of the total area of St. Mary County and more +than 45,000 acres of Prince George County, Maryland, some of which +almost adjoins the District of Columbia. This soil has been reduced +in fertility until it contains only one-third as much phosphorus as +your poorest land. I found a Western man who had come down to +Maryland a few years ago. He saw that beautiful almost level upland +soil, and it looked so good to him that he bought and kept buying +until he had 'squared out' a tract of eleven hundred acres. He +still had left money enough to fence the farm and to put the +buildings in good repair. He was a live-stock farmer from the West +who just knew from his own experience and from that of the Secretary +of Agriculture, in the use of a little clover or farm manure in +unlocking the great reserves of an almost virgin soil, that all his +Maryland farm needed was clover seed and live stock. Sheep +especially he knew to be great producers of fertility. + +"He sowed the clover and grass seed and they germinated well. He +even secured a fine catch, but it failed to hold, as we say out +West. He tried again and again, and failed as often as he tried. He +showed me his best clover on a field that had received some manure +made from feed part of which was purchased, and that had also +received five hundred pounds per acre of hydrated lime, which he was +finally persuaded to use, after becoming convinced that +clover-growing on old abandoned land was not exactly as easy as +clover-growing on a 'run-down' farm of almost virgin soil in the +West." + +"And was the clover good after that treatment?" asked Mr. West. + +"No, not good," said Percy, "but in some places where the manure had +been applied to the high points, as is the custom of the Western +farmer, the yield of clover, weeds, and foul grass together must +have been nearly a half ton to the acre. Fortunately he waited to +fully stock his farm with cattle and sheep until he should have some +assurance of producing sufficient feed to keep them for a time at +least, instead of making the common mistake of the less experienced +farmer who goes to the country from the city, and who imagines that, +if he has plenty of stock on the farm, they must of necessity +produce abundance of manure with which to enrich his land for the +production of abundant crops." + +"Well, now you'll have to show me," said the grandmother. "To my +way of thinking that's a pretty good kind of a notion for a farmer +to have, and I'd like to know what's wrong with it." + +Again a shadow seemed to cross the sweet face as the mother's glance +turned from grandma to Adelaide. + +"The system has some merit," replied Percy, "but it starts at the +wrong point in the circle. Cattle and sheep must first have feed +before they can produce the fertilizer with which to enrich the +soil; and people who would raise stock on poor land should always +produce a good supply of food before they procure the stock +requiring to be fed. There is probably no more direct route to +financial disaster than for one to insist upon over-stocking a farm +that is essentially worn out." + +"But doesn't pasturing enrich the soil?" asked the grandmother. + +"Pasturing may enrich the soil only in a single element of plant +food," said Percy. "In all other elements simple pasturing must +always contribute toward soil depletion. If the pasture herbage +contains a sufficient proportion of legume plants so that the +fixation of free nitrogen exceeds the utilization of nitrogen in +animal growth, then the soil will be enriched in that element, +although with the same growth of plants it would be enriched more +rapidly without pasturing; for animals are not made out of nothing. +Meat, milk, and wool are all highly nitrogenous products. + +"On the other hand no amount of pasturing can add to the soil a +single pound of any one of the six mineral elements, and phosphorus, +which is normally the most limited of all these elements, is +abstracted from the soil and retained by the animals in very +considerable amounts. As an average one-fourth of the phosphorus +contained in the food consumed is retained in the animal products, +especially in bone, flesh, and milk." + +"Well, I didn't know that milk contained phosphorus," said Mr. West, +"although I did know, of course, that phosphorus must be contained +in bone." + +"But, as you know," said Percy, "milk is the only food of young +animals, and they must secure their bone food from the milk. +Furthermore, the complete analysis of milk shows that it contains +very considerable quantities. There are also records of digestion +experiments in which less than one-half of the phosphorus in the +food consumed was recovered in the total manural excrements. As a +matter of fact there is a time in the life of the young mother, as +with the two-year old cow, for example, when she must abstract from +the food she consumes sufficient phosphorus for the nourishment of +three growing animals,--her own immature body, a suckling calf, and +another calf as yet unborn. + +"Of course the organic matter of the soil should increase under +pasturing, especially under conditions that make possible an +accumulation of nitrogen; but here too the animals make no +contribution toward any such accumulation. With the same growth of +plants the accumulation of organic matter would be much more rapid +without live stock." + +"It is known absolutely but not generally that live stock destroy +about two-thirds of the organic matter contained in the food they +consume. With grains the proportion is higher, and with coarse +forage it is lower, but as an average about two-thirds of the dry +matter in tender young grass or clover or in a mixed, well-balanced +ration of grain and hay is digested and thus practically destroyed +so far as the production of organic matter is concerned. + +"This you could easily verify yourself, Mr. West, by feeding two +thousand pounds of any suitable ration, such as corn and clover hay, +collecting and drying the total excrement, which will be found to +weigh about seven hundred pounds, if it contains no higher +percentage of moisture than was contained in the two thousand pounds +of food consumed. + +"Of course one should not forget that the liquid excrement contains +more nitrogen and more potassium than the solid, and that much of +this can be saved and returned to the land by use of plenty of +absorbent bedding, and in pasturing there is no danger of any loss +from this source." + +"That is one great trouble with us," said Mr. West. "We never have +as much bedding as we could use to advantage, and it is altogether +too expensive to permit us to think of buying straw." + +"Probably it would be much less expensive for you to buy ground +limestone and then use good alfalfa hay for bedding," said Percy. "I +mean exactly what I say," he continued. "Of course I do not advise +you to use good alfalfa hay in that way, but it would be a cheap +source of very valuable bedding, and it would make an extremely +valuable manure. However, I should not hesitate to make liberal use +of partially spoiled alfalfa hay for bedding, and you are quite +likely to have more or less such hay; for under favorable +conditions, such as you can easily have with your soil and climate, +alfalfa comes on with a rush in the spring, and often the first crop +should be cut before the weather is suitable for making hay. There +should be very little or no delay at this time, because the first +cutting should be removed in order that it may be out of the way of +the second crop, which comes forward still more rapidly under normal +conditions. + +"Some of our Illinois farmers make strenuous objection to taking +care of an alfalfa field that produces $50 worth of the richest and +most valuable hay, because it interferes too much with the proper +care of a $25 corn crop, which they somehow feel requires and +deserves all their time and attention. + +"Some of our Virginia farmers have sent to Illinois for their seed +corn," said Mr. West; "and they report very good results as a rule, +especially on land that has been kept up. On our poor land I think +the native corn does better than the Western seed." + +"Perhaps that is because it is used to it," suggested Percy, "used +to making the struggle for itself on poor land. Fighting for all it +gets, so to speak. You know the high-bred animals cannot hold their +own with the scrubs when it comes to pawing the snow off the dead +wild grass for a living in the winter, as cattle must do sometimes +on the plains of the Northwest. + +"Well, there may be something in that," responded Mr. West, "but the +western seed corn certainly looks fine." + +"Yes, that is true," said Percy. "Our farmers have made marked +improvement in seed corn; they also understand very well how to grow +corn. They know how and when to prepare the ground, how and when to +plant; and how and when to cultivate. When Illinois farmers go to +Iowa to buy land, the Iowa real estate men usually take them to see +a farm that is owned and operated by a former Illinoisan, and they +insist that there are no other farmers who know how to raise corn +quite so well as the Illinois farmer. Perhaps the Illinois real +estate man would tell a similar story to the Iowa farmer if he ever +came there to buy land, but 'Westward the Course of Empire takes its +Way' and the man once gone west knows the east no more, except as a +market for his surplus products or a good place in which to spend +his surplus cash. + +"But, here. We must finish our study of the data that Miss Adelaide +so kindly helped me to compute." + +It was the first time that he had spoken her name in her presence; +and she met his glance as she raised her eyes. + +What's in a name? What's in a glance? + +Percy proceeded without delay; and Adelaide listened as before, her +drooping lashes protecting her eyes almost entirely from the view of +others. The father and mother heard no name spoken and saw no eyes +meet, and yet as Percy continued speaking a second self seemed to be +thinking different thoughts and he was conscious of a strong desire +to look longer than an instant into those captivating eyes. + +A side glance, as she let her lashes droop, revealed to Adelaide +that grandma alone had heard and seen. But Percy was a very +common-place man. Certainly he had no such face as had held her +glance for more than an instant as the afternoon train began to move +from the depot platform. Percy was slightly above the average height +and solidly built, but he was not tall. His face had often been +described as a "perfect blank." No one saw anything of what lay +within by merely looking into his eyes, and yet there was a certain +indescribable something that appealed to one from those eyes. An +elderly German lady once remarked to his mother: "Ihr Sohn hat so +etwas gutes im Auge." + +Percy was not polished in manner, Adelaide admitted. Professor +Barstow had said that he deliberated for half an hour as to whether +he should bring his "cawds," for use on Thanksgiving day, because he +feared that the custom in "Vi'ginia" might not be the same as in +"No'th Cahlina"; while she doubted very much if Percy had any cards +whatever. She had never heard it said that he was "strong as an ox +and quick as lightning," but perhaps she knew it as well as his +schoolmates ever had. She had not heard that one of the college +professors, noted for his short-cut expressions, had once told his +class that he wished they would all "keep their thinking apparatus +in as good repair as Johnston's." One thing she did know was that +Percy's voice had been trained to talk to a woman, and that no other +voice had ever spoken her name as he did. Reserve force? depth of +manhood? confidence in his own words? absolute decision? wealth of +tenderness? persistent endurance? unfailing loyalty? boundless +affection? Deep in her heart Adelaide felt that these were among the +attributes revealed in Percy's voice. When he spoke all listened. +His voice was low-pitched but rich in tone and volume and +sincerity,--that was the word.--The whole man seemed to feel and +speak when he spoke. He surely can have no secrets. His mother must +know all that he knows of his own self; but were those letters from +his mother? The handwriting was very modern. Even her father made an +old-fashioned C and W in signing his own name. Had he not looked at +the writing on both those letters before he noticed the others? and +why did he remain so long in his room before coming down to dinner? +Had he not been in college--in a great University where there were +hundreds of the brightest girls of his own State? But why should any +girl be interested in farming? Teaching is such a cultured +profession. + +Only a moment--just while he was sorting the papers upon which they +had made the computations, but a hundred thoughts had passed through +her mind. Now he was speaking. + +"You remember we took a sample of the subsoil on the sloping land. +This soil is evidently residual, formed in place from the +disintegration of the underlying rock. The soil may represent only a +small part of the original rock, because of the loss by leaching. +Here are the amounts of plant food found in two million pounds of +the subsoil: + +590 pounds of nitrogen +1,980 pounds of phosphorus +37,940 pounds of potassium +24,808 pounds of magnesium +31,320 pounds of calcium + +"A splendid subsoil," Percy continued. "I know of none better in +Illinois, except that we sometimes have more calcium in the form of +carbonate, and even somewhat more potassium in places; but this must +be a fine subsoil for alfalfa, where the bed rock is not too near +the surface. Of course there is but little nitrogen in the subsoil, +but that is true of all normal soils, because the nitrogen is +contained only in the organic matter, and that decreases rapidly +with depth and usually becomes insufficient to color the soil below +18 inches." + +"Now," began Mr. West, "from these different analyses or invoices, +and from your discussion of these results, I take it that you would +not advise me to purchase any commercial fertilizer for use on the +land we are still using in my rotation; but you think we should make +large use of limestone and legume crops." + +"Yes, Sir. Phosphorus is markedly deficient only in the very level +upland which has been allowed to remain uncleared for fifty years or +more, and nitrogen is certainly the limiting element on the land you +are trying to keep in your rotation. While you cannot hope to put +into your soil any such reserve of slow-acting organic matter as we +still have in our comparatively new soils of the West, we may keep +in mind that a small amount of quick-acting fresh organic matter is +more effective than a large supply of what we might call embalmed +material that decomposes very, very slowly unless assisted by the +addition of more active organic matter. It frequently happens that +one soil containing a large reserve of old humus, and hence showing +more organic carbon and more nitrogen, by the ultimate invoice, than +another soil, is, nevertheless, less productive, because the other +soil contains a larger amount of fresh organic matter which decays +quickly and thus furnishes more nitrogen and liberates more of the +other elements from the insoluble minerals of the soil because of +the greater abundance of the active products of organic decay. + +"I think you should keep in mind, however, that, for every +twenty-five bushels of corn you wish to produce, you should return +to the soil one ton of clover or four tons of average farm manure, +and that for one ton of produce hauled to the barns and fed, you +will probably not return to the land more than one ton of manure." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +"STONE SOUP" + + + + + +THE next forenoon Percy and Mr. West spent some time making some +further tests with hydrochloric acid and litmus paper in different +places on the farm; but the result only confirmed the previous +examinations. + +"I never before saw any such light as now appears," said Mr. West. +"It seems to me that for the first time in the history of Westover, +covering about two centuries, a real plan can be intelligently made +based upon definite information looking toward the positive +improvement of the soil. While you have been away, I have been +looking up the lime matter. I find that a lime is being advertised, +and sold in small amounts, that is called hydrated lime, and it is +especially prepared as an agricultural lime. It is recommended by +some dealers as being fully equal to the ordinary commercial +fertilizer which sells at about $25 a ton, while this hydrated +agricultural lime can be bought for $8 a ton, and I think for a +little less in larger amounts. You mentioned also that you had seen +some one who had used hydrated lime, but it didn't seem to make much +of a clover crop. Of course, I understand from what you said that +his soil contained only one hundred and sixty pounds of phosphorus, +and I take it that lime alone could not markedly improve his soil; +but still I would like to know why, if he has one hundred and sixty +pounds of phosphorus in his plowed soil, he could not produce a few +good crops of clover. HOW much phosphorus does it require for a ton +of clover?" + +"One ton of clover contains only five pounds of phosphorus," Percy +replied, "and of course the roots must also require some phosphorus, +although after the crop is produced and removed, the phosphorus +contained in the roots remains for the benefit of subsequent crops. +Thus we might suppose the land which contains one hundred and sixty +pounds of phosphorus ought to furnish the phosphorus needed for a +three ton crop of clover every year for ten years; but in actual +practice no such results are secured. The invoice of the plant food +in the soil is a matter of very great importance, for it reveals the +mathematical possibilities, but another matter of almost equal +importance is the problem of liberating plant food from this supply +sufficient for the crops to be produced year by year. + +"Decaying or active organic matter is one of the great factors in +the liberation of plant food, and undoubtedly the extension or +distribution of the root system of the growing plant is another very +potent factor. If the root surfaces come in contact with one per +cent. of the total surface of the soil particles in the plowed soil, +then we might conceive of a relationship whereby one per cent. of +the phosphorus in that soil would be dissolved or liberated from the +insoluble minerals and thus become available as food for the growing +crop. We know that the rate of liberation varies greatly, with +different soils and seasons, and crops also differ in their power to +assist themselves in the extraction of mineral plant food from the +soil. The presence of limestone encourages the development of +certain soil organisms which tend to hasten some decomposition +process. But, all things considered, it may be said, speaking very +generally, that the equivalent of about one per cent. of the total +phosphorus contained in the plowed soil does become available for +the crops under average conditions. On this basis one hundred and +sixty pounds of phosphorus would furnish about one and one-half +pounds for the crops during one season. But in such a soil the +phosphorus still remaining may be the most difficultly soluble, and +the supply of decaying organic matter may be extremely low, so that +possibly less than one pound per acre would become available, and +this would meet the needs of less than four hundred pounds per acre +of clover hay. Furthermore, the supply grows less and less with +every crop removed. + +"With your ordinary soil, carrying twelve hundred and seventy pounds +of phosphorus, perhaps you may be able by a liberal use of decaying +organic matter to liberate ten or fifteen pounds of phosphorus, or +sufficient for a crop of forty to sixty bushels of corn; and, with a +subsoil richer in phosphorus than the surface, and with more or less +of the partially depleted surface removed by erosion year by year, +the supply of phosphorus is thus permanently provided for unless the +bed rock is brought too near the surface. It is doubtful if the +direct addition of phosphorus to your sloping lands will ever be +necessary or profitable. Certainly such addition is not advisable +until you have brought the land to as high a state of fertility as +is practicable by means of limestone, legumes, and manure." + +"That seems clearly to be the case with most of the land now under +cultivation on this farm," said Mr. West "Can you tell me anything +about this hydrated lime? + +"I can tell you it is correctly named," Percy replied. "_Hydrated_ +means _watered,_ and an investment in hydrated lime is properly +classed with other watered investments. If you prefer to use +hydrated lime I would suggest that you buy fresh burned lump lime +and do the hydrating yourself, which only requires that you add +eighteen pounds of water to each fifty-six pounds of quick lime; in +other words, that you slack the lime by adding water in the proper +proportion. Both quick lime and hydrated lime are known as caustic +lime. Webster says that the word _caustic_ means 'capable of +destroying the texture of anything or eating away its substance by +chemical action.' + +"This definition is correct for caustic lime, as you can easily +determine by keeping your hand in a bucket of slacked lime a few +minutes. Caustic lime eats away the organic matter of the soil. In +an experiment conducted by the Pennsylvania Experiment Station, +during a period of sixteen years, eight tons of hydrated lime +destroyed organic matter equivalent to thirty-seven tons of farm +manure, as compared with the use of equivalent applications of +ground limestone; and, as an average of the sixteen years, every ton +of caustic lime applied liberated seven dollars' worth of organic +nitrogen, as compared with ground limestone. That this much +liberated nitrogen was essentially wasted and lost is evidenced by +the fact that larger crops were produced where ground limestone was +used than where burned lime was applied. + +"The limestone must be quarried whether used for grinding or for +burning, and the grinding can be done for twenty-five cents a ton +where a large equipment with powerful machinery is used and where +cheap fuel is provided, as near the coal mining districts. It need +not be very finely ground. If ground to pass a sieve with twelve +meshes to the linear inch, it is very satisfactory, provided that +all of the fine dust produced in the grinding is included in the +product. You see the soil acids are slightly soluble and they attack +the limestone particles and are thus themselves destroyed or +neutralized. If, however, you ever wish to use raw rock phosphate, +insist upon its being sufficiently fine-ground that at least ninety +per cent. of it will pass through a sieve with ten thousand meshes +to the square inch, this being no finer than is required for the +basic slag phosphate, of which several million tons are now being +used each year in the European countries. Like the raw rock +phosphate, the slag gives the best results only when used in +connection with plenty of decaying organic matter." + +"That reminds me," said Mr. West, "of what one of the fertilizer +agents said about raw phosphate. He said the use of raw phosphate +with farm manure reminded him of 'stone soup,' which was made by +putting a clean round stone in the kettle with some water. Pepper +and salt were added, then some potatoes and other vegetables, a +piece of butter and a few scraps of meat. 'Stone soup,' thus made, +was a very satisfactory soup. He said that in practically all of the +tests of raw phosphate conducted by the various State Experiment +Stations, manure has been used as a means of supplying organic +matter to liberate the phosphorus from the raw rock, but in such +large quantity as to be entirely impracticable for the average +farmer to use on his own fields; and his opinion was that the entire +benefit was due to the manure. He had a little booklet entitled +'Available or Unavailable Plant Food--Which?' published by the +National Fertilizer Association, and said I could get a copy by +addressing the Secretary at Nashville, Tennessee." + +"Fortunately," said Percy, "this is not a question of opinion but +one of fact; and it has been discovered that the fertilizer agents +who are long on opinions and short on facts prefer to sell four tons +of complete fertilizer for $80, or even two tons of acid phosphate +for $30, rather than to sell one ton of raw phosphate, containing +the same amount of phosphorus, for $7.50. In the manufacture of +acidulated fertilizers, one ton of raw phosphate, containing about +two hundred and fifty pounds of the element phosphorus, is mixed +with one ton of sulfuric acid to make two tons of acid phosphate; +and, as a rule, these two tons of acid phosphate are mixed with two +tons of filler to make four tons of complete fertilizer. A favorite +filler is dried peat, which is taken from some of the peat bogs, as +at Manito, Illinois, and shipped in train loads to the fertilizer +factories. The peat is not considered worth hauling onto the land in +Illinois, even where the farmers can get it for nothing; but it +contains some organic nitrogen, and, by the addition of a little +potassium salt, the agent is enabled to call the product a +'complete' fertilizer. + +"Experiments with the use of raw rock phosphate have been conducted +by the State Agricultural Experiment Stations over periods of twelve +years in Maryland, eleven years in Rhode Island, twenty-one years +(in two series) in Massachusetts, fourteen years (in two series) in +Maine, twelve years in Pennsylvania, thirteen years in Ohio, four +years in Indiana, and from four to six years on a dozen different +experiment fields in different parts of Illinois. + +"I have here some quotations taken from the directors of several of +these experiment stations which fairly represent the opinions which +they have expressed concerning their own investigations. Thus the +Maryland director says: + +"'The results obtained with the insoluble phosphates has cost +usually less than one-half as much as that with the soluble +phosphates. Insoluble South Carolina phosphate rock produced a +higher total average yield than dissolved South Carolina rock.' + +"The Rhode Island director comments as follows: + +"' With the pea, oat, summer squash, crimson clover, Japanese +millet, golden millet, white podded Adzuka bean, soy bean, and +potato, raw phosphate gave very good results; but with the flat +turnip, table beet, and cabbage it was relatively very inefficient.' + +"The following statement is from the Massachusetts director: + +"'It is possible to produce profitable crops of most kinds by +liberal use of natural phosphates, and in a long series of years +there might be a considerable money saving in depending at least in +part upon these rather than upon the higher priced dissolved +phosphates.' + +"The director of the Maine State Experiment Station gives us the +following: + +"'For the first year the largest increase of crop was produced by +soluble phosphate. For the second and third years without further +addition of fertilizers, better results were obtained from the plots +where stable manure and insoluble phosphates had been used.' + +"The stable manure and insoluble phosphates here referred to were +not applied together, but on separate plots. In deed, the raw +phosphate was not used in connection with manure either in Maryland, +Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, Pennsylvania, or Indiana; and in +the extensive experiments in progress in Illinois the raw phosphate +has been used, as a rule, not with farm manure, but with green +manures; and wherever manure has been used in connection with the +raw phosphate, as in Ohio, the comparison is made with the same +amounts of manure applied without phosphate. + +"The Pennsylvania Report for 1895, page 210, contains the following +statement: + +"'The yearly average for the twelve years gives us a gain per acre +of $2.83 from insoluble ground bone, $2.45 from insoluble South +Caroline rock, $1.61 from reverted phosphate, and 48 cents from +soluble phosphate, thus giving us considerably better results from +the two forms of insoluble phosphate than from the reverted or +soluble forms.' + +"The Indiana director reports as follows: + +"'It will be seen that during the first and second years the rock +phosphate produced little effect, while the acid phosphate very +materially increased the yields. During the third and fourth +seasons, however, the rock produced very striking results, even +forging ahead of the acid. This and very similar investigations in +progress lead us to believe that rock phosphate is a cheap and +effective source of phosphorus where immediate returns are not +required. + +"In the Ohio experiments eight tons of manure per acre were applied +once every three years in a three-year rotation of corn, wheat, and +clover, three different fields being used, so that every crop might +be grown every year. The average yields for the thirteen years where +manure alone was used were: + +53.1 bushels of corn +20.6 bushels of wheat +1.63 tons of hay + +"The average yields on the unfertilized land were: + +32.2 bushels of corn +11.4 bushels of wheat +1.16 tons of hay + +"If the corn is worth 35 cents a bushel, the wheat 70 cents, and the +hay $6 a ton, in addition to the expense of harvesting and +marketing, then the total value of the manure spread on the land is +$2.07 a ton. + +"Where $1.20 worth of raw phosphate (320 pounds) were added in +connection with the manure the average yields were as follows: + +61.4 bushels of corn +26.3 bushels of wheat +2.23 tons of hay + +"And where $2.40 worth of acid phosphate (320 pounds) were used with +the same amount and kind of manure the following average yields were +secured: + +60.4 bushels of corn +26.5 bushels of wheat +2.16 tons of hay + +"These are the actual yield, and by any method of computation yet +proposed, each dollar invested in raw phosphate has paid back much +more than has a dollar invested in acid phosphate." + +"And was the use of the raw phosphate really profitable?" asked Mr. +West. + +"Well, you might figure that out for yourself," Percy replied, +"preferably using the average prices for your own locality for corn, +wheat and clover. As I figure it at prices below the ten-year +average for Illinois, the raw phosphate paid about eight hundred per +cent. net on the investment." + +"Eight hundred per cent! You must mean eight per cent. net. + +"No, Sir, I mean eight hundred per cent. net, but you had better +take the data and make your own computations. But does it not seem +strange that, with such positive knowledge as this available, many +of the Illinois landowners who have managed to sell off enough of +their original stock of fertility in grain or stock at good prices +to enable them to more than pay for their lands, should continue to +invest their surplus in more land with hope that it will pay them +eight per cent. interest, when they could secure many times that +much interest from investing in the permanent improvement of the +land they already own?" + +"Perhaps it is not so strange," replied Mr. West. "I fear that some +of their ancestors did the same thing in Virginia and other Eastern +States until the land became poor, and then of course they were +'land poor.' But, say, that 'stone soup' wouldn't be so bad for +those Ohio landowners, would it? I should think they would avail +themselves of the positive information from their experiment +station. Speaking of soup, I wonder if it isn't time for lunch! But +tell me; are the Illinois farmers doing anything with raw +phosphate?" + +"Yes, they are doing something, but by no means as much as they +ought. About two months ago a group of the leading farmers from our +section of the State went up to Urbana to look over the experiment +fields, some of which have been carried on since 1870. The land is +the typical corn belt prairie, and consequently the results should +be of very wide application. Well, as a result of that day's +inspection of the actual field results, an even twelve carloads of +raw phosphate were ordered by those farmers upon their return home; +and I learned of another community where ten carloads were ordered +at once after a similar visit. As an average of the last three years +the yield of corn on those old fields has been 23 bushels per acre +where corn has been grown every year without fertilizing, 58 bushels +where a three-year rotation of corn, oats and clover is followed, +and in the same rotation where organic matter, limestone, and +phosphorus have been applied the average yield has been 87 bushels +in grain farming and 92 bushels in live-stock farming. + +"I attended the State Farmers' Institute last February, and there I +met many men who have had several years' experience with the raw +rock. Usually they put on one ton per acre as an initial application +and plow it under with a good growth of clover; and, afterward, +about one thousand pounds per acre every four years will be ample to +gradually increase the absolute total supply of phosphorus in the +soil, even though large crops are removed. + +"A good many of our thinking farmers are now using one or two cars +of raw phosphate every year, and they are figuring hard to keep up +the organic matter and nitrogen. The most encouraging thing is the +very marked benefit of the phosphate to the clover crop, and of +course more clover means more corn in grain farming, and more corn +and clover means more manure in live-stock farming. + +"On the Illinois fields advantage is taken of these relations in the +developing of systems of permanent agriculture. You see, if the +phosphate produces more clover, then more clover can be plowed under +on that land; or, if the crops are fed, then more manure can be +returned to the phosphated land than to the land not treated with +phosphate and not producing so large crops. Really the phosphate is +not given full credit for what it has accomplished in the Ohio +experiments; because, while the land receiving phosphated manure has +produced about one-fourth larger crops than the land receiving the +untreated manure, the actual amounts of manure applied have been the +same, whereas one-fourth more manure can be produced from the +phosphated land and if this increased supply of manure were returned +to the land it would increase the supply of nitrogen and thus make +still larger crop yields possible." + +"That is surely the way it would work out in practical farming," +said Mr. West. "I think I did not tell that $4.80 a ton is the +lowest quotation I have been able to get as yet for ground limestone +delivered at Blue Mound Station." + +"That would make its use prohibitive," said Percy. "You ought to get +it for just one-fourth of that, or for $1.20 a ton. In Illinois we +can get it delivered a hundred miles from the quarry for $1.20 a +ton. It costs no more for a thirty-ton car of ground limestone than +the farmer receives for a cow; and the cost of a car of fine-ground +natural phosphate is about equal to the price of one horse." + +"Of course, our limestone supplies are essentially inexhaustible," +said Mr. West, "but is that also true of our natural phosphate +deposits?" + +"It is not true of the high-grade phosphate," replied Percy; "for, +according to the information furnished by the United States +Geological Survey, it is evident that the known supplies of our +high-grade phosphate will be practically exhausted in fifty years if +our exportation continues to increase at the prevailing rate. After +that is gone we may then draw upon our low-grade phosphate deposits, +which though probably not inexhaustible are known to be exceedingly +extensive." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +THEORIES VERSUS FACTS + + + + + +PERCY planned to walk to Blue Mound to take the three-thirty train +that Saturday afternoon; but Adelaide's parents both insisted that +she would willingly drive to the station, and the grandmother +discovered that she needed a certain kind of thread which Adelaide +could then also get at the store. + +"Certainly," said Adelaide, with some merriment, "I always enjoy our +departing guests to the train." + +"Very well," replied Percy. "If you must go to get the thread and +will permit me to be the coachman, I shall be satisfied, for you +will be home early." + +"Then we will take the colts and buckboard, and I shall be home in +less than twenty minutes after your train leaves the station." + +"I think I have missed several days of your beautiful 'Indian +Summer,' because of my trip to the North," Percy remarked to Mr. +West as they sat on the broad veranda waiting for the hour of two +thirty when the colts were to be ready for the drive. + +"I wish you might have been with us while Professor Barstow was +here," replied Mr. West, "not only because of the mild autumn +weather we have had, but also because Professor Barstow has some +ideas about questions of soil fertility that are very different from +those you hold. He says a young man from Washington gave a lecture +at his college down in North Carolina, in which he informed them +that the cause of infertility of soils is a poisonous substance +excreted by the plant itself, and that this can be overcome by +changing from one crop to another because the excrete of one plant, +while poisonous to that plant, will not be poisonous to other plants +of a different kind. Thus, by rotation of crops, good crops could be +grown indefinitely on the same land without the addition of plant +food. He said that the soil water alone dissolved plenty of plant +food from all soils for the production of good crops, and that the +supply of plant food will be permanently maintained, because the +plant food contained in the subsoil far below where the roots go is +being brought to the surface by the rise of the capillary moisture, +and that there is in fact a steady tendency toward an accumulation +of plant food in the surface soil. He said that it is never +necessary to apply fertilizing material to any soil for the purpose +of increasing the supply of plant food in that soil. He admitted +that applications of fertilizers sometimes produce increased crop +yields, but that the effect was due to the power of the fertilizer +to destroy the toxic substances excreted by the plants, and this is +really the principal effect of potash, phosphates, and nitrates, and +also of farm manure and green manures. Humus, he said, is one of the +very best substances for destroying these toxic excrete although +they had some other things which were as good or better than any +sore of fertilizing materials. He mentioned especially a substance +called pyrogallol, which cost $2.00 a pound, and of course it could +not be applied on a large scale; but it was as good a fertilizer as +anything, although it contains nothing but carbon, oxygen, and +hydrogen, which, as you explained to me when you were here before, +the plants secure in abundance from air and water. This information +had been secured in the laboratories at Washington by growing wheat +seedlings in water culture for twenty-day periods." + +"I have already heard something of those theories," said Percy, "but +I shall be glad to have you tell me more about them. As I understand +them, we need only to rotate and cultivate and our lands should +always continue to produce bountiful crops. Is that correct?" + +"I understand that is the theory," replied Mr. West, "but I know it +is not correct for my grandfather used to grow two or three times as +much wheat per acre as I can grow, and I rotate much more than he +did. In fact I can grow only ten to fifteen bushels of wheat per +acre once in ten years, whereas he grew from twenty-five to forty +bushels per acre in a five-year rotation; and I don't see that there +is any particular connection between the growing of wheat seedlings +in small pots or bottles for a few twenty-day periods and the +growing of crops in soils during successive seasons. No, I don't +take any stock in their theories. I think they are _watered, _or +perhaps I should say _hydrated, _in deference to science. But I +would like to know about this question of plant food coming up from +below. That would be a happy solution of the fertilizer problem." + +"It is true," said Percy, "that soluble salts are brought to the +surface in the rise of moisture by capillarity in times of partial +drouth; and in the arid regions where the small amount of water that +falls in rain or snow leaves the soil only by evaporation, because +there is never enough to produce underdrainage, the salts tend to +accumulate at the surface. The alkali conditions in the arid or +semiarid regions of the West are thus produced. But in humid +sections where more or less of the rainfall leaves the soil as +underdrainage the regular loss by leaching is so much in excess of +the rise by capillarity that soils which are not affected by erosion +or overflow steadily decrease in fertility even under natural +conditions, with no cultivation and no removal of crops. Of course +this applies at first only to the mineral plant foods, as phosphorus +potassium, magnesium, and calcium. While mineral supplies are +abundant in the surface soil, there may be a large acumulation of +organic matter and nitrogen, especially because of the growth of +wild legumes, which are very numerous and in places very abundant, +especially on some of the virgin prairies of the West. However, as +the process of leaching proceeds there comes a time when the growth +of the native vegetation is limited because of a deficiency in some +essential mineral plant food, such as phosphorus, or the limestone +completely disappears and soil acidity develops which greatly +lessens the growth of the legumes. + +"Decomposition of organic matter begins almost as soon as any part +of the plant ceases to live, and there is certain to come a time +when the rate of decomposition and loss exceeds the rate of fixation +and accumulation; and from that time on the organic matter and +nitrogen as well as the mineral plant foods continue to decrease in +the surface, until finally the natural barrens are developed, such +as are found in different sections of the World and in some places +even where the rainfall is sufficient for abundant crops." + +"Yes, Sir," said Mr. West. "I know that is true. I have visited +Tennessee and I know there are some extensive areas there of +practically level upland which have always been considered too poor +to justify putting under cultivation, and they are called the +'Barrens'." + +"I know about those barren lands, too," said Percy. "Our teacher of +soil fertility in college told us that a farm is more than a piece +of the earth's surface. He said if we only wanted to get a large +level tract of upland where the climate is mild and the rainfall +abundant and where all sorts of crops do well on good soil, +including the wonderful cotton crop which brings a hundred dollars +for a thousand pounds, while corn brings forty dollars for a hundred +bushels,--well, he said we could go to the Highland Rim of Tennessee +where, according to analyses reported in 1897 by the Tennessee +Experiment Station, the surface soil of the 'Barrens' contains +eighty-seven pounds of phosphorus and the subsoil sixty-one pounds +of phosphorus per acre, counting two million pounds of soil in each +case. He said, if we didn't like that we might go into the Great +Central Basin of Tennessee or the famous Blue Grass Region of +Kentucky and find land that is still extremely productive and more +valuable than ever, even after a hundred years of cultivation, and +buy land containing from three thousand to fifteen thousand pounds +of phosphorus per acre." + +"I know both of those sections very well," said Mr. West. "But +doesn't it seem strange that the scientists at Washington would +teach as they do? Why doesn't the plant food accumulate in the +surface soil of those barrens? Surely they have been lying there +long enough, with no crops whatever removed, so that they ought to +have become very rich. I wish I had known about their phosphorus +content so I could have told Professor Barstow. He was quite carried +away with the Washington theory." + +"You ought not for a moment call it the 'Washington' theory," said +Percy; "and neither is it promulgated by scientists, but rather by +two or three theorists who are upheld by our greatest living +optimist. Science, Sir, is a word to be spoken of always with the +greatest respect. Of course you know its meaning?" + +"Yes, I know it comes from the Latin _scire, _to know." + +"Then _science _means _knowledge; _it does not mean theory or +hypothesis, but absolute and positive knowledge. Is there any +uncertainty as to the instant when the next eclipse will appear? No, +none whatever. Science means knowledge, and men are scientists only +so far as they have absolute knowledge, and to that extent every +farmer is a scientist. + +"Nevertheless the erroneous teaching so widely promulgated by the +federal Bureau of Soils is undoubtedly a most potent influence +against the adoption of systems of positive soil improvement in the +United States, because it is disseminated from the position of +highest authority. Other peoples have ruined other lands, but in no +other country has the powerful factor of government influence ever +been used to encourage the farmers to ruin their lands." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +GUESSING AND GASSING + + + + + +AS we were riding to Montplain yesterday," said Adelaide to Percy, +soon after they started for Blue Mound, "Professor Barstow told me +that in his opinion all that was needed to redeem these old lands of +Virginia and the Carolinas is plenty of efficient labor, such as he +thinks we had before the war. I know papa does not agree with him in +that, but Professor said that soils do not wear out if well +cultivated, that in New England they grow as large crops as ever, +and that in Europe, on the oldest lands the crop yields are very +much larger than in the United States; and in fact that the European +countries are producing about twice as large crops as they did a +hundred years ago. He thinks it is because they do their work more +thoroughly than we do. He says that 'a little farm well tilled' is +the key to the solution of our difficulties." + +"That might seem to be a good guess as to the probable relation of +cause and effect," replied Percy, "but we ought not to overlook some +well known facts that have an important bearing. It is exactly a +hundred years since DeSaussure of France, first gave to the world a +clear and correct and almost complete statement concerning the +requirements of plants for plant food and the natural sources of +supply. Sir Humphrey Davy, Baron von Liebig, Lawes and Gilbert, and +Hellriegel followed DeSaussure and completely filled the nineteenth +century with accumulated scientific facts relating to soils and +plant growth. + +"Sir John Bennett Lawes, the founder of the Rothamsted Experiment +Station, the oldest in the world, on his own private estate at +Harpenden, England, began his investigations in the interest of +practical agricultural science soon after coming into possession of +Rothamsted in 1834. In 1843 he associated with him in the work +Doctor Joseph Henry Gilbert, and for fifty-seven years those two +great men labored together gathering agricultural facts. Sir John +died in 1900, and Sir Henry the following year. + +"That the people of Europe have made some use of the science thus +evolved is evident from the simple fact that they are taking out of +the United States every year about a million tons of our best +phosphate rock for which they pay us at the point of shipment about +five millions dollars; whereas, if this same phosphate were applied +to our own soils that already suffer for want of phosphorus, it +would make possible the production of nearly a billion dollars' +worth of corn above what these soils can ever produce without the +addition of phosphorus. And our phosphate is only a part of the +phosphate imported into Europe. They also produce rock phosphate +from European mines, and great quantities of slag phosphate from +their phosphatic iron ores. + +"They feed their own crops and large amounts of imported food +stuffs, and utilize all fertilizing materials thus provided for the +improvement of their own lands. Legume crops are grown in great +abundance and are often plowed under to help the land. + +"Do you wonder why the wheat yield in England is more than thirty +bushels per acre while that of the United States is less than +fourteen bushels? Because England produces only fifty million +bushels of wheat, while she imports two hundred million bushels of +wheat, one hundred million bushels of corn, nearly a billion pounds +of oil cake, and other food stuffs, from which large quantities of +manure are made; and, in addition to this, England imports and uses +much phosphate and other commercial plant food materials. + +"Germany imports great quantities of wheat, corn, oil cake, and +phosphates, and thus enriches her cultivated soil, and Germany's +principal export is two billion pounds of sugar, which contains no +plant food of value, but only carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, secured +from air and water by the sugar beet. + +"Denmark produces four million bushels of wheat, imports five +million bushels of wheat, fifteen million bushels of corn, fifteen +million bushels of barley, eight hundred million pounds of oil cake, +eight hundred million pounds of mill feed, and other food stuffs, +phosphate, etc., and exports one hundred and seventy-five million +pounds of butter, which contains no plant food of value, but sells +for much more than these imports cost. + +"Italy applies to her soils every year about a million tons of +phosphates, which contain nearly twice as much phosphorus as is +removed from the land in all the crops harvested and sold from the +farms of Italy. + +"The very good yields of the crops of New England are attributable +to large use of fertilizing materials, in part made from food stuffs +shipped in from the West; and the high development of certain lands +of Europe and New England has been possible under the system +followed only because the areas concerned are small. Thus, the +average acreage of corn in Rhode Island and Connecticut is less than +three townships, or less than one-tenth as much corn land in the two +States as the area of single counties in the Illinois corn belt. + +"Did you ever hear of the 'Egypt' we have out West, Miss West?" + +"Out West, Miss West," she repeated. "That is too much repetition +of the same word to make a good sentence. I like 'Miss Adelaide' +better; I do get tired of hearing West and Westover over and over. +Yes, I have heard of the 'Egypt' you have out West. Is it near +Illinois?" + +"Near Illinois? Why, Miss Adelaide, I am surprised that you should +even know about the crop yields of Rhode Island and not know where +'Egypt' is. Let me inform you that 'Egypt' is in Illinois, and our +'Egypt' is a country as large as thirteen states the size of Rhode +Island. Cairo is the Capital, and Alexandria, Thebes, and Joppa are +all near by. Tamm and Buncombe, and Goreville and Omega are also +among our promising cities of 'Egypt,' although you may not so +easily associate them with the ancient world." + +"Well I know where Cairo is," Adelaide replied, "but if your 'Egypt' +is on the map you will have to show me. I know now that 'Egypt' is +in Southern Illinois, but how do you separate 'Egypt' from the rest +of the State?" + +"We make no such separation," said Percy. "But to find 'Egypt' on +the map, you need only take the State of Illinois and subtract +therefrom all that part of the corn belt situated between the +Mississippi River and the west line of Indiana. The southern point +of 'Egypt' is at Cairo, the Capital, and it is bounded on the east, +south, and west, by the Wabash, the Ohio, and the Mississippi; but +the north line is not only imaginary, but it is movable. In fact it +is always just a few miles farther south, but I think all +'Egyptians' will agree that a sand bar which is being formed below +Cairo between the Ohio and the Mississippi is truly 'Egyptian ' +territory. If you ever visit in the West do not fail to see 'Egypt.' + +"I really hope I may, sometime," she replied. "We have relatives who +claim to live in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri, but I think +possibly they may all be 'Egyptians,' from what you have told me +about the vast area of that great fairy empire. I know I would +dearly love to go there." + +"'Egypt' is the wheat belt and the fruit belt of Illinois," Percy +continued. "One of the grand old men of Illinois, Colonel N. B. +Morrison, who was for years a trustee of the State University, used +to be called upon for an address whenever he was present at +Convocation. He always stated proudly that he lived in the 'Heart of +Egypt.' He said the soil there was not so rich perhaps as in the +corn belt, but that with plenty of hard work they were able to live +and to produce the finest fruit and the greatest men in America. He +said they had to work both the top and bottom of their soil, and he +explained that they harvested wheat and apples from the top, and +then went down about 600 feet and harvested ten thousand tons of +coal to the acre, and still left enough to support the earth. I have +heard him say that when he was born there was not a mile of railroad +in the United States, and that he had during his own lifetime, +witnessed the practical agricultural ruin of almost whole States. He +used to plead for the University to send some of her scientific men +to help them to solve the problem of restoring the fertility of +their soils down in 'Egypt'; and I am glad to say that finally the +State appropriated sufficient funds so that the Illinois Experiment +Station is rapidly securing the exact information needed to make +those Southern Illinois lands richer than they ever were. + +"I spent several days in 'Egypt' last month and I am planning to +make another trip down there next week before deciding definitely +about purchasing our poor land farm. I am not sure but the land of +'Egypt' is as poor as we ought to try to build up considering our +limited means." + +"Oh, do you think so? But Papa's land is not so poor is it?" + +"No, it is not so poor in mineral plant food on the sloping areas, +but even there it is extremely poor in humus and nitrogen. However, +I fear I could not enjoy farming in irregular patches of five or ten +acres, and the level lands of Virginia and Maryland are so +exceedingly poor, that much time and money and work will be required +to put them on a paying basis. There would be no pleasure or +satisfaction in merely robbing other farms to build up mine, as some +of the prosperous truck farmers and dairymen are doing. I should +want to practice a system of soil improvement of unlimited +application so that it would not be a curse to the agricultural +people, as is the case with the man who builds up his farm only at +the expense of other farms. + +"We have been speaking of the development of agriculture on the +small tracts of cultivable land in the great manufacturing States of +New England. But, if we would make a fair comparison with a State +like Illinois, we should consider some great agricultural State, as +Georgia, for example, which is also one of the original thirteen. +Georgia is a larger State than Illinois, and Georgia cultivates as +many acres of corn and cotton as we cultivate in corn. But Georgia +land cannot be covered with fertilizer made from Illinois corn, nor +even with seaweed and fish-scrap from the ocean. Her agriculture +must be an independent agriculture, just as the agriculture of +Russia, India, and China must be, just as the agriculture of +Illinois must be, and as the agriculture of all the great +agricultural States must be. What is the result to date? The average +yield of corn in Georgia is down to 11 bushels per acre. This is not +for half of one township, but the average of four million acres for +the last ten years; and this in spite of the fact that Georgia out +more for the common acidulated manufactured so-called complete +commercial fertilizer than any other State." + +"That is appalling," said Adelaide, "but still some larger countries +are building up their lands, such as those of Europe." + +"In large part by the same methods as the New England truckers and +dairymen are following," he replied, "and in comparison with the +area and resources of their colonies and of the other great new +countries upon which they draw for food and fertilizer, they are +fairly comparable with the New England States in this country. Even +the Empire of Germany is only four-fifths as large as Texas. The +only country of Europe at all comparable with the United States is +Russia, and in that great country the average yield of wheat for the +last twenty years is eight and one-fourth bushels per acre, even +though, as a general practice, the land is allowed to lie fallow +every third year. The average yield for the five famine years that +have occurred during the twenty-year period was six and one-quarter +bushels of wheat per acre." + +"That is wretched," said Adelaide, "I know about the Russian famines +for we have made contributions through our church for their relief, +but that condition can surely never come to this great rich new +country, can it?" + +"It will come just as certainly as we allow our soil fertility to +decrease and our population to increase. As a nation we have +scarcely lifted a hand yet to stop the waste of fertility or to +restore exhausted lands; practically every effort put forth by the +Federal government along agricultural lines having been directed +toward better seeds, control of injurious insects and fungous +diseases, exploitation of new lands by drainage and irrigation, +popularly called 'reclamation,' although applied only to rich virgin +soils which can certainly be brought under cultivation at any future +time either by the Government or by private enterprise. But why +should not the Federal government make all necessary provisions to +furnish ground limestone and phosphate rock at the actual cost of +quarrying, grinding, and transporting, in order that farmers on +these old depleted soils may be encouraged to adopt systems of soil +improvement; or even compelled to adopt such systems, just as they +are compelled to build school houses, bridges, and battleships?" + +"Perhaps the Government would do this," said Adelaide, "if the +Secretary of Agriculture would recommend it." + +"I have heard of the '_big if,'" _Percy replied slowly, "but I am +afraid this _if _will beat the record for bigness. His soil +theorists continue to assure him that soils do not wear out, no +matter how heavily cropped, if they are only rotated and cultivated; +and to support their theories they have forsaken the data from the +most carefully conducted and long continued scientific +investigations, and indulged in a game of guessing that the +increasing productiveness of a few small countries of Europe is not +due to any necessary addition of plant food. + +"But here is the depot, and I have taken almost an hour to drive +three miles. If I had hurried, you might have been back home by this +time. I am afraid I have been selfish in allowing the team to walk +nearly all of the way, but they will at least be fresh for the home +trip which you promised to make in less than twenty minutes, I +remember. Now if you will hold the lines, I will run into the store +to get the thread. I remember the kind; I often do such errands for +mother." + +"I will wait while you get your ticket and find out if the train is +on time," said Adelaide, as Percy returned with the thread. + +"At least fifty minutes late," he reported, "and the agent said he +was glad of it for he would need about that time to make out such a +long-jointed ticket as I want. I am rather glad too, for I can watch +you to the turn in the road on the hill, which must be a mile or +more, and I will time you. You can have six minutes to make that +corner." + +"You mean I can have six minutes to get out of sight," she +suggested. + +"I think you are out of sight," he ventured. + +Adelaide reddened. "I shall have to tell mother what slang you use," +she said. + +"I hope you will," he retorted, "for I have watched her watch you +and I am sure she will agree with me. But I do feel that I owe you a +sincere apology for taking up the time we have had together with +this long discussion of the things that are of such special interest +to me. I have been alone with my mother so much and she is always so +ready and so able, I may add, to discuss any sort of business matter +that I fear I have been forgetful of your forbearance." + +"But you really have not," Adelaide replied. "I keep books for papa, +and I am very much interested in these social and economic questions +which are so fundamental to the perpetuity of our State and National +prosperity. I have been both entertained and instructed by these +discussions; and I might say, honored, too, that you do not consider +me too young and foolish to talk of serious subjects." + +"I am sure it is kind of you to make good excuses for me. You have +at any rate relieved my mind of some burden, but I am sure you are +the only woman I have ever known, except my mother, who could endure +discussions of this sort. I have so greatly enjoyed the few short +visits I have had with you. I wish I might write to you and I shall +be so much interested to learn what success your father has if he +begins a system of soil improvement. Would it be presuming to hope +that I might hear from you also?" + +"I am papa's stenographer," she replied, "and perhaps he will +dictate and I will write. We will be glad to hear of your safe +return,--and you,--you might ask papa. Now, I shall soon be out of +sight." + +"Please don't," begged Percy. "It is still forty-five minutes 'at +least,' before the train comes. Let me go a piece with you. I will +leave my suit case here and with nothing to carry I shall easily +walk a mile in twenty minutes. May I drive, please?" + +"No, I will drive. I want to ask you another question, and I am +afraid you would drive too fast. + +"You mentioned some long-continued scientific investigations which I +assumed referred to the yield of crops. What were they?" + +"I meant such investigations as those at Rothamsted and also those +conducted at Pennsylvania State College. I have some of the exact +data here in my note book. + +"In 1848, Sir John Lawes and Sir Henry Gilbert began at Rothamsted, +England, two four-year rotations. One was turnips, barley, fallow, +and wheat; and the other was turnips, barley, clover, and wheat. +Whenever the clover failed, which has been frequent, beans were +substituted, in order that a legume crop should be grown every +fourth year. + +"The average of the last twenty years represents the average yields +about fifty years from the beginning of this rotation. + +"In the legume system, as an average of the last twenty years, the +use of mineral plant food has increased the yield of turnips from +less than one-half ton to more than twelve tons; increased the yield +of barley from thirteen and seven-tenths bushels to twenty-two and +two-tenths bushels; increased the yield of clover (when grown) from +less than one-half ton to almost two tons; increased the yield of +beans (when grown) from sixteen bushels to twenty-eight and +three-tenths bushels; and increased the yield of wheat from +twenty-four and three-tenths bushels to thirty-eight and four-tenths +bushels per acre. + +"In the legume system the minerals applied have more than doubled +the value of the crops produced, have paid their cost, and made a +net profit of one hundred and forty per cent. on the investment, in +direct comparison with the unfertilized land. + +"If we compare the average yield of turnips, barley, clover, and +wheat of the last twenty years with the yield of turnips in 1848, +barley in 1849, clover in 1850 and wheat in 1851 we find that on the +unfertilized land in this rotation of crops in fifty years the yield +of turnips has decreased from ten tons to one-half ton, and the +yield of barley has decreased from forty-six to fourteen bushels, +the yield of clover has decreased from two and eight-tenths tons per +acre to less than one-half ton, while the yield of wheat has +decreased only from thirty bushels to twenty-four bushels. As a +general average the late yields are only one-third as large as they +were fifty years before on the same land. Wheat grown once in four +years has been the only crop worth raising on the unfertilized land +during the last twenty years, and even the wheat crop has distinctly +decreased in yield; although where mineral plant food was applied +the yield has increased from thirty bushels, in 18851 to +thirty-eight bushels as an average of the last twenty years. In the +fallow rotation on the unfertilized land the yield of wheat averaged +thirty-four and five-tenths bushels during the first twenty years +(1848 to 1867) and twenty-three and five-tenths bushels during the +last twenty years. + +"On another Rothamsted field the phosphorus actually removed in +fifty-five crops from well-fertilized land is two-thirds as much as +the total phosphorus now contained in the plowed soil of adjoining +untreated land. + +"In the early 80's the Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station +began a four-year crop rotation, including corn, oats, wheat, and +mixed clover and timothy. + +"There are five plots in each of four different fields that have +received no applications of plant food from the beginning. Thus, +every year the crops are carefully harvested and weighed from twenty +measured plots of ground that receive no treatment except the +rotation of crops. The difference between the average of the first +twelve years and the average of the second twelve years should +represent the actual change in productive power during a period of +twelve years. These averages show that the yield of corn has +decreased from forty-one and seven-tenths bushels to twenty-seven +and seven-tenths bushels; that the yield of oats has decreased from +thirty-six and seven-tenths bushels to twenty-five bushels; that the +yield of wheat has decreased only from thirteen and three-tenths +bushels to twelve and eight-tenths bushels; and that the yield of +hay has decreased from three thousand seventy pounds to two thousand +one hundred and eighty pounds. + +"As a general average of these four crops the annual value of +produce from one acre has decreased from $11.05 to $8.18. Here we +have information which is almost if not quite equal in value to that +from the Agdell rotation field at Rothamsted. While the Rothamsted +experiments cover a period of sixty years, each crop was grown but +once in four years; whereas, in the Pennsylvania experiments, there +have been four different series of plots, so that in twenty-four +years there have been twenty-four crops of corn, twenty-four crops +of oats, twenty-four crops of wheat, and twenty-four crops of hay. + +"Under this four-year rotation the value of the crops produced has +decreased twenty-six per cent. in twelve years. What influence will +impress that fact upon the minds of American landowners? A loss +amounting to more than one-fourth of the productive power of the +land in a rotation with clover seeded every fourth year! This one +fact is the mathematical result of four hundred and eighty other +facts obtained from twenty different pieces of measured land during +a period of twenty-four years. + +"As an average of these twenty-four years, the addition of mineral +plant food produced increases in crop yields above the unfertilized +land as follows: + +Corn increased forty-five per cent. +Oats increased thirty-two per cent. +Wheat increased forty-two per cent. +Hay increased seventy-seven per cent. + +"As a general average of the four crops for the twenty-four years, +the produce where mineral plant food is applied, was forty-nine per +cent. above the yields of the unfertilized land, although the same +rotation of crops was practiced in both cases." + +"Those are some of the absolute facts of science secured from +practical application in the adoption and development of definite +systems of permanent prosperous agriculture, and they should be made +to serve this greatest and most important industry just as the +established facts of mathematical and physical science are made to +serve in engineering." + +"I am glad to know about those long-continued experiments," said +Adelaide. "They are of fascinating interest. I have been so sorry +for grandma, and for papa and mamma, because of their increasing +discouragement over our farm. I do hope we may profit from this fund +of accumulated information which has already been secured from long +years of investigation. Surely we must endeavor to avoid in America +the awful conditions that already exist in the older agricultural +countries, where the lands are depleted and the people are brought +to greater poverty than even here in Virginia. + +"But we have already reached the turn, and you have a mile to walk. +How much time have you?" + +"Thirty minutes yet," said Percy. "Wait just a moment. Have you read +Lincoln's stories?" + +"Many of them, yes." + +"Here is the best one he ever told; I have copied it on a card. He +told it to a meeting of farmers at the close of an address in which +he urged them to study the science of agriculture and to adopt +better methods of farming: + +"'An Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a +sentence to be ever in view, and which should be true and +appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the +words, "And this, too, shall pass away." How much it expresses! How +chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of +affliction! "And this, too, shall pass away." And yet, let us hope, +it is not quite true. Let us hope, rather, that by the best +cultivation of the physical world beneath and around us, and the +best intellectual and moral world within us, we shall secure an +individual, social, and political prosperity and happiness, whose +course shall be onward and upward, and which, while the earth +endures, shall not pass away.'" + +"I agree with you that it is his best story," said Adelaide, as +Percy finished reading and placed the card in her hand. "Now you +must go or I shall insist upon taking you back to the station." + +"I shall stand here and time you till you reach the next turn," he +replied. "Then you will be in sight of Westover. One! Two! Three! +Go!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +THE DIAGNOSIS AND PRESCRIPTION + + + + + +WINTERBINE, ILLINOIS, + +December 4, 1 903 + +Mr. T. O. Thornton, Blairville, VA. + +MY DEAR SIR:--I beg to report that I returned home a few days ago +and found my mother well and busy as usual. We have definitely +decided that we will not accept your kind offer to sell us a part of +your farm, but we appreciate nevertheless the sacrifice, at least +from the standpoint of sentiment, which Mrs. Thornton and Miss +Russell were willing to make, in order to permit us to secure such a +farm as we might want in a splendid situation. + +As a matter of fact we are thinking very seriously of purchasing a +farm in Southern Illinois. My mother much prefers to remain in +Illinois, and for some reasons I have the same preference on her +account. + +While in Washington I was fortunate enough to find that a soil +survey had been completed for your county and also that a partial +ultimate analysis had been made of the common loam soil of your +farm, such as we sampled. Following are the number of pounds per +acre for the surface soil to a depth of six and two-thirds +inches,--that is, for two million pounds of soil. + +610 pounds of phosphorus + +13,200 pounds of potassium + +1,200 pounds of magnesium + +3,430 pounds of calcium + +As compared with a normal fertile soil, your land is very deficient +in phosphorus and magnesium, and, as you know, the soil is acid. It +is better supplied with potassium than with any other important +element. + +I would suggest that you make liberal use of magnesian +limestone,--at least two tons per acre every four or five +years,--and the initial application might better be five or even ten +tons per acre if you are ready to make such an investment. + +I am sorry that the nitrogen content of the soil was not determined, +or at least not published in the bulletin. There can be no doubt, +however, that your soil is extremely deficient in organic matter and +nitrogen, and you will understand that liberal use should be made of +legume crops. The known nitrogen content of legumes and other crops +will be a help to you in planning your crop rotation and the +disposition of the crops grown. + +As to phosphorus, it is safe to say that in the long run fine-ground +rock phosphate will prove the best investment; but for a few years +it might be best to make some use of acid phosphate in addition to +the raw rock, at least until you are ready to begin turning under +more organic matter with the phosphate. + +There is only one other suggestion: If you wish to make a start +toward better crops as soon as possible, you may well use some +kainit,--say six hundred pounds per acre every four or five years, +preferably applied with the phosphate. In the absence of decaying +organic matter, the potassium of the soil becomes available very +slowly. The kainit furnishes both potassium and magnesium in soluble +form and it also contains sulfur and chlorin. As soon as you can +provide plenty of decaying organic matter you will probably +discontinue the use of both kainit and acid phosphate. If you sell +only grains and animal products, the amount of potassium sold from +the farm is very small compared with your supply of that element, +which would be sufficient for one hundred bushels of corn per acre +for seven hundred years. + +I have some doubt if it will be worth the expense involved to have +the samples of subsurface and subsoil analyzed at this time; but you +might save them for future use if desired. + +I shall always appreciate the kindness shown me by being permitted +to enjoy your hospitality and to profit from the information you +were so able to give me concerning the history and general character +of your lands. + +My mother asks to have her kind regards extended to you and yours. + +Very sincerely yours, + +PERCY JOHNSTON. + +WESTOVER, January 2, 1904. Percy Johnston, Esq., Winterbine, Ill. + +MY DEAR FRIEND:--We were all pleased to receive your letter +informing us of your safe journey back to Illinois. I had hoped that +you might find a piece of land here in the East which would suit +you; but I am not surprised that you and your mother should prefer +to remain in Illinois, because of your former associations and your +better knowledge of the Western conditions. Northern men who come +South often have serious difficulty to manage our negro labor. + +I am surprised, however, that you were able to purchase, even in +Southern Illinois, such prairie land as you describe for the price +of $18 per acre. I supposed $190 an acre for your corn belt farm was +a good price, although it is commonly reported to us that Illinois +land is selling for $150 to $200 an acre. + +Now, in regard to correspondence with Adelaide, let me say that we +could have no objection whatever, except that it might be +misunderstood, more especially, of course, by Professor Barstow. I +do not think I mentioned it to you, but the fact is that the +Professor and Adelaide are essentially betrothed. I do not know that +the final details are perfected, but doubtless they are, for they +have been much together during the Christmas weeks. The Barstows, as +you probably know, are still among the most prominent people of +North Carolina. Adelaide is young yet and we respect her reticence, +but her mother and I have both given our consent and Professor +Barstow has every reason to be satisfied with the reception he +invariably receives from Adelaide. + +I only mention this matter to you that you may understand why +misunderstanding might arise in case of such correspondence as you +suggest, even though, as Adelaide has explained, she has very +naturally become interested temporarily in some of the economic and +social questions relating to agriculture, and would unquestionably +read your letters concerning these state and national problems with +continued interest. I shall hope, however, that she may still have +that satisfaction, for I am very deeply interested in all such +questions, and I am particularly interested to know more of the +details of your southern Illinois farm, including the invoice of the +soil, which you say has been taken by your Experiment Station, and +especially your definite plans for the improvement of the land. I +hope the name you have chosen for your farm is not so appropriate as +it would be for some of our old Virginia farms. + +I shall also be under renewed obligation to you if I may +occasionally submit questions concerning the best plans for the +restoration of Westover to its former productiveness. I have decided +at least to make another trial with alfalfa next summer, following +the valuable suggestions you gave me. + +In closing let me renew my assurance of our deep gratitude for the +special service you so nobly rendered when fiendish danger +threatened my daughter. We shall always regard you as a gentleman of +the highest type. Very respectfully yours, + +CHARLES WEST. + +Percy read this letter hurriedly to the end, and then slowly reread +it. His mother noticed that he absent-mindedly replaced the letter +in the envelope instead of reading it to her as was his custom. +However, he laid the letter by her plate and talked with her about +the corn-shelling which was to begin as soon as the corn sheller +could be brought from the neighbor's where Percy had been helping to +haul the corn from the sheller to elevator at Winterbine. Dinner +finished, he hurried out to complete the preparations for the +afternoon's work. We have no right to follow him. His mother only +saw that he went to the little granary where a few loads of corn +were to be stored for future use. Yes, she saw that he closed the +door as he entered. Not even his mother could see her son again a +child. Women and children weep, not men. The heart strings draw +tight and tighter until they tear or snap. The body is racked with +the anguish of the mind. The form reels and sinks to the floor. The +head bows low. Pent up tears fall like rain.--No, that cannot be. +Men do not shed tears. If they are mental cowards and physical +brutes they pass from hence by a short and easy route and leave the +burdens of life to their wives and mothers and disgraced families. +If they are Christian men they seek the only source of help. + +Mrs. Johnston watched and waited--it seemed an hour, but was only a +quarter of that time till the granary door opened and she saw Percy +pass to the barn with a step which satisfied her mother's eye. + +She drew out the letter, and from a life habit of making sure, +pressed the envelope to see that it contained nothing more. She +noted a slip of crumpled paper and drew it out. Upon it was written +in a penciled scrawl: + +_"Her grandma has not consented."_ + +She read the letter, stood for a moment as in meditation, then +replaced the slip and letter in the envelope, and laid it on Percy's +desk. The letter was plainly a man's handwriting. The envelope was +addressed in a bold hand that was clearly not Mr. West's writing. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +PLANNING FOR LIFE + + + + + +HEART-OF-EGYPT, ILLINOIS, June 16, 1904. + +Mr. Charles West, + +Blue Mound, Va. + +MY DEAR SIR:--I have delayed writing to you in regard to the plans +for Poorland Farm, until I could feel that we are able at least to +make an outline of tentative nature. The labor problem of a farm of +three hundred and twenty acres is of course very different from that +on forty acres, and we are not yet fully decided regarding our crop +rotation and the disposition of the crops produced (or hoped for). I +realize that to rebuild in my life what another has torn down during +his life is a task the end of which can hardly be even dimly +foreshadowed. Some friends are already beginning to ask me what +results I am getting, and they apparently feel that we must succeed +or fail with a trial of a full season. I have said to them that I +have no objection whatever to discussing our plans at any time, so +far as we are yet able to make plans, but that I shall not be ready +to discuss results with anyone until we begin to secure crop yields +in the third rotation. This means that I am not expecting the +benefits of a six-year rotation of crops before the rotation has +been actually practiced. You will understand of course that, if all +your land had been cropped with little or no change, for all its +history, you would require six or eight years' time before you would +be able to grow a crop of corn on land that had been pastured for +six or eight years; but some people seem to take it for granted that +one can adopt a six-year rotation and enjoy the full benefits of it +the first season. + +I remember that you were surprised that I could buy a level upland +farm even in this part of Illinois for $18 an acre; but you will +probably be more surprised to learn that this farm had not paid the +previous owners two per cent. interest on $18 an acre as an average +of the last five years. In fact, sixty acres of it had grown no +crops for the last five years. It was largely managed by tenants on +the basis of share rent, and because of this I have been able to +secure the records of several years. + +I at least had some satisfaction in purchasing this farm, for the +real estate men were left without a single "talking point." I +insisted that I wanted the poorest prairie farm in "Egypt," and +whenever they began to tell me that the soil on a certain farm was +really above the average, or that the land had been well cared for +until recently, or that it had been fertilized a good deal, etc., I +at once informed them that any advantage of that sort completely +disqualified any farm for me; and that they need not talk to me +about any farms except those that represented the poorest and most +abused in Southern Illinois. + +I may say, however, that $20 an acre is about the average price of +the average land. I had an option on a three hundred and sixty acre +farm cornering the corporation limits of the County Seat for $30 an +acre, and all agreed that the farm was above the average in quality. + +Heart-of-Egypt is a small station on the double track of the +Chicago-New Orleans line of the Illinois Central, and there are +three other railroads passing through our County Seat. Poorland Farm +is less than two miles from Heart-of-Egypt and only five miles from +the County Seat, with level roads to both. + +As to the soil, I may say that in some respects it is poorer than +yours, but in others not so poor. The amount of plant food contained +in six and two-thirds inches of the surface soil of an acre, +representing two million pounds of soil, are as follows: + +2,880 pounds of nitrogen + +840 pounds of phosphorus + +24,940 pounds of potassium + +6,740 pounds of magnesium + +14,660 pounds of calcium + +By referring to the invoice of your most common land, you will see +that Westover is richer in phosphorus, in magnesium, and in calcium, +than Poorland Farm. But, while your soil contains a half more of +that rare element phosphorus, ours contains a half more of the +abundant element potassium. In the supply of nitrogen we have a +distinct advantage, because our soil contains nearly three times as +much as your most common cultivated land, and even twice as much as +your level upland soil, which you consider too poor for farming, but +in which phosphorus and not nitrogen must be the first limiting +element, the same as with ours. + +The fact is that the nitrogen problem in the East was one of the +reasons why we have chosen to locate in Southern Illinois. I am +confident that the level lands I saw about Blairville and over in +Maryland are more deficient in organic matter and nitrogen than your +uncultivated level upland, and probably even more deficient than +your common gently sloping cultivated lands, because of your long +rotation with much opportunity for nitrogen fixation by such legumes +will grow in your meadows and pastures, including the red clover +which you regularly sow, the white clover, which is very persistent, +and the Japan clover, which it seems to me has really benefited you +more than the others. + +To me a difference in nitrogen content of two thousand pounds per +acre signifies a good deal. It plainly signifies a hundred years' of +"working the soil for all that's in it," beyond what has yet been +done to our "Egypt." The cost of two thousand pounds of nitrogen in +sodium nitrate would be at least $300 and even that would not +include the organic matter, which has value for its own sake because +of the power of its decomposition products to liberate the mineral +elements from the soil, as witness the most common upland soils of +St. Mary county, Maryland, with a phosphorus content reduced to one +hundred and sixty pounds per acre in two million pounds of the +ignited soil. The ten-inch plows of Maryland, the twelve-inch of +Southern Illinois, the fourteen-inch of the corn belt, and the +sixteen-inch of the newer regions of the Northwest, signify +something as to the influence of organic matter upon the horsepower +required in tillage; and the organic matter also has a value because +it increases the power of the soil to absorb and retain moisture and +to resist surface washing and "running together" to form the hard +surface crust. + +To think of applying two thousand pounds of nitrogen by plowing +under two hundred tons of manure or forty tons of clover per acre at +least requires a "big think," as my Swede man would say. + +Of course, with our western life and cosmopolitan population, where +"a man's a man for a' that," mother feels that it would not be easy +for us to fit into your somewhat distinctly stratified society. We +would not be "colored" if we could, and perhaps we could not be +aristocratic if we would; and the opportunity to become, or, perhaps +I should say, to remain, "poor white trash," though wide open, is +not very alluring. I realize, of course, that there are some +whole-souled people like the West's and Thornton's, but I also found +some of the tribe of Jones, and I have much doubt as to the social +standing of one who would feel obliged to demonstrate that he could +spread more manure in a day than his hired nigger. + +My Swede and I are like brothers; we clean stables together and talk +politics, science, and agriculture. In fact he is as much interested +as I am in the building up of Poorland Farm, and has already +contributed some very practical suggestions. I pay him moderate +wages and a small percentage of the farm receipts after deducting +certain expenses which he can help to keep as low as possible, such +as for labor, repairs, and purchase of feed and new tools, but +without deducting the taxes or interest on investment or the cost of +any permanent improvements, such as the expense for limestone, +phosphate, new fences and buildings, and breeding stock. + +Referring again to the invoice of the soil, I may say that the +percentage of the mineral plant foods increases with depth, the same +as in your soil, but not to such an extent, and with one exception. +The phosphorus content of our surface soil is greater than that of +the subsurface, but below the subsurface the phosphorus again +increases. This is probably due to the fact that the prairie grasses +that grew here for centuries extracted some phosphorus from the +subsurface in which their roots fed to some extent, and left it in +the organic residues which accumulated in the surface soil. + +Aside from the difference in organic matter, the physical character +of our soil is distinctly inferior to the loam soils about +Blairville and Leonardtown. We have a very satisfactory silt loam +surface, but the structure of our subsoil is quite objectionable. It +is a tight clay through which water passes very slowly, so slowly +that the practicability of using tile-drainage is still questioned +by the State University, although the experiments which the +University soil investigators have already started in several +counties here in "Egypt" will ultimately furnish us positive +knowledge along this line. + +As for me, I purpose making no experiments, whatever. I do not see +how I or any other farmer can afford to put our limited funds into +experiments, especially when we often lack the facilities for taking +the exact and complete data that are needed. It takes time and labor +and some equipment to make accurate measurements, to weigh every +pound of fertilizer applied and every crop carefully harvested from +measured and carefully seeded areas, especially selected because of +their uniform and representative character. I think this is public +business and it is best done by the State for the benefit of all. + +I have heard narrow politicians call it class legislation to +appropriate funds for such agricultural investigations, but the fact +is that to investigate the soil and to insure an abundant use of +limestone, phosphate, or other necessary materials required for the +improvement and permanent maintenance of the fertility of the soil +is legislation for all the people, both now and hereafter. Would +that our Statesmen would think as much of maintaining this most +important national resource, as they do of maintaining our national +honor by means of battleships and an army and navy supported at an +expense of three hundred million dollars a year, sufficient to +furnish ten tons of limestone to every acre of Virginia land, an +amount twenty times the Nation's appropriation for agriculture; and +even this is largely used in getting new lands ready for the +bleeding process, instead of reviving those that have been +practically bled to death. + +As for me, I shall simply take the results which prove profitable on +the accurately conducted experiment fields of the University of +Illinois, one of which is located only seven miles from Poorland +Farm, and on the same type of soil, I shall try to profit by that +positive information, and await the accumulation of conclusive data +relating to tile-drainage and other possible improvements of +uncertain practicability for "Egypt." + +Say, but our soil is acid! The University soil survey men say that +the acidity is positive in the surface, comparative in the +subsurface, and superlative in the subsoil. Two of them insisted +that the subsoil has an acid taste. The analysis of a set of soil +samples collected near Heart-of-Egypt shows that to neutralize the +acidity of the surface soil will require seven hundred and eighty +pounds of limestone per acre, while three tons are required for the +first twenty inches, and sixteen tons for the next twenty inches. +The tight clay stratum reaches from about twenty to thirty-six +inches. Above this is a flour-like gray layer varying in thickness +from an inch to ten inches, but below the tight clay the subsoil +seems to be more porous, and I am hoping that we may lay tile just +below the tight clay and then puncture that clay stratum with red +clover roots and thus improve the physical condition of the soil. I +asked Mr. Secor, a friend who operates a coal mine,--and farms for +recreation,--if he thought alfalfa could be raised on this type of +soil. He replied: "That depends on what kind of a gimlet it has on +its tap root." + +Some of the farmers down here tell me confidentially that "hardpan" +has been found on their neighbors' farms, but I have not talked with +any one who has any on his own farm. I am very glad the University +has settled the matter very much to the comfort of us "Egyptians," +by reporting that no true "hardpan" exists in Illinois, although +there are extensive areas underlain with tight clay, "of whom, as it +were, we are which." + +I am glad that the nitrogen-fixing and nitrifying bacteria do +business chicfly in the surface soil, because we are not prepared to +correct the acidity to any very great depth. + +The present plan is to practice a six-year rotation on six +forty-acre fields, as follows: + +First year--Corn (and legume catch crop). + +Second year--Part oats or barley, part cowpeas or soy beans. + +Third year--Wheat. + +Fourth year--Clover, or clover and timothy. + +Fifth year--Wheat, or clover and timothy. + +Sixth year--Clover, or clover and timothy. + +This plan may be a grain system where wheat is grown the fifth year, +only clover seed being harvested the fourth and sixth years, or it +may be changed to a live-stock system by having clover and timothy +for pasture and meadow the last three years, which may be best for a +time, perhaps, if we find it too hard to care for eighty acres of +wheat on poorly drained land. + +In somewhat greater detail the system may be developed we hope about +as follows: + +First year: Corn, with mixed legumes, seeded at the time of the last +cultivation, on perhaps one-half of the field. These legumes may +include some cowpeas and soy beans and some sweet clover, but that +is not yet fully decided upon. + +Second year: Oats (part barley, perhaps) on twenty acres, cowpeas on +ten acres, and soy beans on ten acres. The peas and beans are to be +seeded on the twenty acres where the catch crop of legumes is to be +plowed under as late in the spring as practicable. + +Third year: Wheat with alsike on twenty acres and red clover on the +other twenty, seeded in the early spring. If necessary to prevent +the clover or weeds from seeding, the field will be clipped about +the last of August. + +Fourth year: Harvest the red clover for hay and the alsike for seed, +and apply limestone after plowing early for wheat. + +Fifth year: Wheat, with alsike and red clover seeded and clipped as +before. + +Sixth year: Pasture in early summer, then clip if necessary to +secure uniformity, and later harvest the red clover for seed. Manure +may be applied to any part of this field from the time of wheat +harvest the previous year until the close of the pasture period. +Then it may be applied to the alsike only until the red clover seed +crop is removed, and then again to any part of the field, which may +also be used for fall pasture. To this field the threshed clover +straw and all other straw not needed for feed and bedding will be +applied. The application of raw phosphate will be made to this +field, and all of this material plowed under for corn. + +The second six years is to be a repetition of the first, except that +the alsike and red clover will be interchanged, so as to avoid the +development of clover sickness if possible; and to keep the soil +uniform we may interchange the oats with the peas and beans. + +This system provides for the following crops each year: + +40 acres of corn; + +20 acres of oats; + +10 acres of cowpeas for hay + +10 acres of soy beans for seed + +80 acres of wheat + +20 acres of red clover for hay + +20 acres of alsike for seed + +20 acres of red clover for seed + +20 acres of alsike for pasture, except from June to August. + +We also have some permanent pasture which we may use at any time +that may seem best. If necessary we may cut all the clover for hay +the fourth year, and we may pasture all summer the sixth year. We +can pasture the corn stalks during the fall and winter when the +ground is in suitable condition. + +We plan to raise our own horses and perhaps some to sell. In +addition we may raise a few dairy cows for market, but will do +little dairying ourselves. + +We expect to sell wheat and some corn, and if successful we shall +sell some soy beans, alsike seed, and red clover seed. + +How soon we shall be able to get this system fully under way I shall +not try to predict; but we shall work toward this end unless we +think we have good reason to modify the plan. + +I hope to make the initial application of limestone five tons per +acre, but after the first six years this will be reduced to two or +three tons. I also plan to apply at least one ton per acre of +fine-ground raw phosphate every six years until the phosphorus +content of the plowed soil approaches two thousand pounds per acre, +after which the applications will probably be reduced to about +one-half ton per acre each rotation. + +There are three things that mother and I are fully decided upon: + +First, that we shall use ground limestone in sufficient amounts to +make the soil a suitable home for clover. + +Second, that we shall apply fine-ground rock phosphate in such +amounts as to positively enrich our soil in that very deficient +element. + +Third, that we shall reserve a three-rod strip across every +forty-acre field as an untreated check strip to which neither +limestone nor phosphate shall ever be applied, and that we shall +reserve another three-rod strip to which limestone is applied +without phosphate, while the remaining thirty-seven acres are to +receive both limestone and phosphate. + +Thus we shall always have the satisfaction of seeing whatever +clearly apparent effects are produced by this fundamental treatment, +even though we may not be able to bother with harvesting these check +strips separate from the rest of the field. + +We have based our decision regarding the use of ground limestone +very largely upon the long-continued work of the Pennsylvania +Agricultural Experiment Station as to the comparative effects of +ground limestone and burned lime, which is supported, to be sure, by +all comparative tests so far as our Illinois soil investigators have +been able to learn. + +The practicability and economy of using the fineground natural +phosphate has been even more conclusively established, as you +already know, by the concordant results of half a dozen state +experiment stations. There are only two objections to the use of the +raw phosphate. One of these is the short-sighted plan or policy of +the average farmer, and the other is the combined influence of about +four-hundred fertilizer manufacturers who prefer to sell, quite +naturally, perhaps, two tons of acid phosphate for $30, or four tons +of so-called "complete" fertilizer for $70 to $90, rather than to +see the farmer buy direct from the phosphate mine one ton of +fine-ground raw rock phosphate in which he receives the same amount +of phosphorus, at a cost of $7 to $9. + +Until we can provide a greater abundance of decaying organic matter +we may make some temporary use of kainit, in case the experiments +conducted by the state show that it is profitable to do so. + +In a laboratory experiment, made at college it was shown that when +raw phosphate was shaken with water and then filtered, the filtrate +contained practically no dissolved phosphorus; but, if a dilute +solution of such salts as exist in kainit was used in place of pure +water, then the filtrate would contain very appreciable amounts of +phosphorus. + +In addition to this benefit, the kainit will furnish some readily +available potassium, magnesium, and sulfur; and, by purchasing +kainit in carload lots, the potassium will cost us less than it +would in the form of the more expensive potassium chlorid or +potassium sulfate purchased in ton lots. Of course we do not need +this in order to add to our total stock of potassium, but more +especially I think to assist in liberating phosphorus from the raw +phosphate which is naturally contained in the soil and which we +shall also apply to the soil, unless the Government permits the +fertilizer trusts to get such complete control of our great natural +phosphate deposits that they make it impossible for farmers to +secure the fine-ground rock at a reasonable cost, which ought not, I +would say, to be more than one hundred per cent. net profit above +the expense of mining, grinding, and transportation. We may feel +safe upon the matter of transportation rates, for the railroads are +operated by men of large enough vision to see that the positive and +permanent maintenance of the fertility of the soil is the key to +their own continued prosperity, and some of them are already +beginning to understand that the supply of phosphorus is the master +key to the whole industrial structure of America; for, with a +failing supply of phosphorus, neither agriculture nor any dependent +industry can permanently prosper in this great country. + +If we retain the straw on the farm and sell only the grain, the +supply of potassium in the surface soil of Poorland Farm is +sufficient to meet the needs of a fifty bushel crop of wheat per +acre every year for nineteen hundred and twenty years, or longer +than the time that has passed since the Master walked among men on +the earth; whereas, the total phosphorus content of the same soil is +sufficient for only seventy such crops, or for as long as the full +life of one man. Keep in mind that Poorland Farm is near +Heart-of-Egypt, and that this is the common soil of our "Egyptian +Empire," which contains more cultivable land than all New England, +has the climate of Virginia, and a network of railroads scarcely +equalled in any other section of this country, and in addition it is +more than half surrounded by great navigable rivers. + +On Poorland Farm there are seven forty-acre fields which are at +least as nearly level as they ought to be to permit good surface +drainage, and there is no need that a single hill of corn should be +omitted on any one of these seven fields; and I am confident that +with an adequate supply of raw phosphate rock and magnesian +limestone and a liberal use of legume crops this land can be made to +pay interest on $300 an acre. + +Why not? At Rothamsted, England, they have averaged thirty-eight and +four-tenths bushels of wheat per acre during the last twenty years +in an experiment extending over sixty years, and they have done this +without a forkful of manure or a pound of purchased nitrogen. Why +not? The wheat alone from eighty acres of land, if it yielded forty +bushels per acre and sold at $1 a bushel, would pay nearly five per +cent. interest on $300 an acre for the entire two hundred and forty +acres used in my suggested rotation. + +Aye, but there is one other very essential requirement: To wit, a +world of work. + +Hoping to hear from you, and especially about your alfalfa, I am, + +Very sincerely yours, + +PERCY JOHNSTON. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +SEALED LIPS + + + + + +No one realized more than Percy Johnston that toleration of life +itself was possible to him only because of the world of work that he +found always at hand in connection with his abiding faith and +interest in the upbuilding of Poorland Farm. He had accepted +Adelaide's sweet smile and lack of apparent disapproval with +confidence that he might at least have an opportunity to try to win +her love. As he was permitted at the parting to look for more than +an instant into those alluring eyes, he felt so sure that they +expressed something more than friendship or gratitude for him. He +had felt the more confidence because he thought he knew that she +would not permit him to humiliate himself by asking and failing to +receive from her father permission to write to her, when she could +easily in her own womanly way have discouraged such a thought at +once. Had she not insisted upon driving slowly back to the turn in +the road, and did he not feel the absence of a previous reserve? + +Oh, misleading imagination. The will is truly the father of thought +and faith. Percy knew as he parted from Adelaide that he had left +with her the love of heart and mind of one whose life had developed +in him the character which does nothing by halves. His love had +multiplied with the distance as he journeyed westward, with a great +new pleasure which life seemed to hold before him and with a +pardonable confidence in its achievement. + +He had written Mr. West a week after his return in a way which would +not fail of understanding if his hopes were justified. The belated +reply which reached him after holidays was accepted as final. His +pride was humiliated and the sweetest dream of his life abruptly +ended. He felt the more helpless and the more deeply wounded because +of Mr. West's reference to his special service in the protection he +had once rendered to Adelaide. It continually reminded him that, as +the highest type of gentleman, he should do nothing that could be +construed as an endeavor to take advantage of the consideration to +which that act might seem to entitle him. Bound and buried in the +deepest dungeon, waiting only for the announcement from his of the +day of his execution. This was his mental attitude as the months +passed and he began to receive an occasional letter from Mr. West, +in each of which he looked for the news of Adelaide's marriage. + +In Mrs. Johnston a feeling of hatred had developed for Adelaide. She +was certain that she had marred the happiness of her son. The +heartlessness of a flirt who could trifle with the affection of one +who had a right to assume in her an honor equal to his own deserved +only to be hated with even righteous hatred. She saw the scrawled +note which she knew Percy had not seen, but what did it signify? An +eccentric old lady's penchant for match making? Perhaps she was +even more guilty than the girl in attempting to lead Percy to see in +Adelaide more than he ought. She might even take an old flirt's +delight in the mere number of conquests made by her granddaughter. +Or was the scrawled note slipped into the envelope by a prank- +playing fourteen-year-old brother? In any case was it wise that +Percy should see the note? She could probably do nothing better than +to leave it with the letter. Even if the girl were worthy, Percy +could never hope to win one of her class, whose pride of ancestry is +their bread of life. It might not have been quite so, perhaps, if +Percy had only selected some more respected profession. Why should +not he have become a college professor? + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +HARD TIMES + + + + + +WHEN Percy and his mother reached Poorland Farm in March they found +a small frame house needing only shingles, paint, and paper to make +it a fairly comfortable home, until they should be able to add such +conveniences as Percy knew could be installed in the country as well +as in the city. From the sale of corn and some other produce they +were able to add to the residue of $1,840, which represented the +difference between the cost of three hundred and twenty acres in +Egypt and the selling price of forty acres in the corn belt. An even +$3,000 was left in the savings bank at Winterbine. + +"If we can live," said Percy, "just as the other 'Egyptians' must +live, and save our $3,000 for limestone and phosphate, I believe we +shall win out. Through the efforts of the Agricultural College and +the Governor of the State the convicts in the Southern Illinois +Penitentiary have been put to quarrying stone, and large crushers +and grinders have been installed, and the State Board of Prison +Industries is already beginning to ship ground limestone direct to +farmers at sixty cents a ton in bulk in box cars. The entire +Illinois Freight Association gave an audience to the Warden of the +Penitentiary and representatives from the Agricultural College and a +uniform freight rate has been granted of one-half cent per ton per +mile. This will enable us to secure ground limestone delivered at +Heart-of-Egypt for $1.22-1/2 per ton. + +"Now, to apply five tons per acre on two hundred and forty acres +will require one thousand two hundred tons and that will cost us +$1,570 in cash, less perhaps the $70, which we save on roads and the +untreated check strips which I want to leave. To apply one ton of +phosphate per acre to the same six fields will cost about $1,600. Of +course, I shall not begin to apply phosphate until after I have +applied the limestone and get some clover or manure to mix with the +phosphate when I plow it under; and I hope with the help of the +limestone we shall get some clover and some increase in the other +crops. In any case the $3,000 and interest we will get for what we +can leave in the bank during the six or eight years it will take to +get the rotation and treatment under way will pay for the initial +cost of the first applications of both limestone and phosphate; and +we shall hope that by that time the farm will bring us something +more than a living." + +The carload of effects shipped from Winterbine to Heart-of-Egypt +included two horses, a cow, a few breeding hogs, and some chickens; +also a supply of corn and oats sufficient for the summer's feed +grain. + +After the expenses of shipping were paid, less than $350 were +deposited in the bank at the County Seat. Of this $250 were used for +the purchase of another team. Hay was bought from a neighbor and +some old hay that had been discarded by the balers, who had +purchased, baled, and sold the previous hay crop from Poorland Farm, +Percy gathered up and saved for bedding. + +He plowed forty acres of the land that had not been cropped for five +years, and, after some serious delays on account of wet weather, +planted the field in corn, using the Champion White Pearl variety, +be cause the Experiment Station had found it to be one of the best +varieties for poor land. + +"I wouldn't plant that corn if you would give me the seed," a +neighbor had said to him. "See how big the cob is; and the tip is +not well filled out, and there is too much space between the rows. I +tell you there's too much cob in it for me. I want to raise corn and +not corn cob." + +"It certainly is not a good show ear," said Percy, "but what I want +most is bushels of shelled corn per acre. Perhaps these big kernels +will help to give the young plant a good start, and perhaps the +piece of cob extending from the tip will make room for more kernels +if the soil can be built up so as to furnish the plant food to make +them. The cob is large but it is covered with grains all the way +around; and, if those kernels of corn were putty, we could mash them +down a little and have less space between the rows, but it would +make no more corn on the ear. However, my chief reason for planting +the Champion White Pearl is that this variety has produced more +shelled corn per acre than any other in the University experiments +on the gray prairie soil of 'Egypt.'" + +There were only sixteen acres of corn grown on the entire farm in +1903 and this yielded thirteen bushels per acre, as Percy learned +from the share of the crop received by the previous landowner. + +In 1904 the Champion White Pearl yielded twenty bushels per acre, as +nearly as could be determined by weighing the corn from a few shocks +on a small truck scale Percy had brought from the north. He numbered +his six forty-acre fields from one to six. Forty No. 7 was occupied +by twelve acres of apple orchard, eight acres of pasture, and twenty +acres of old meadow. By getting eighty rods of fencing it was +possible to include twenty-eight acres in the pasture, although one +hundred and ninety-two rods of fencing had been required to surround +the eight-acre pasture. The remainder of the farm was in patches, +including about fifteen acres on one corner crossed by a little +valley and covered with trees, a tract which Percy and his mother +treasured above any of the forty-acre fields. While the week was +always filled with work, there were many hours of real pleasure +found in the wood's pasture on the Sunday afternoons. + +Forty No. I was left to "lie out," and No. 2 raised only twelve +acres of cowpeas. No. 3 was plowed during the summer and seeded to +timothy in the early fall. No. 4 was in corn and Nos. 5 and 6 were +left in meadow, two patches of nine and sixteen acres previously in +cowpeas and corn having been seeded to timothy in order, as Percy +said, to "square out" the forty-acre fields. About fifty acres of +land were cut over for about sixteen tons of hay. The corn was all +put in shock, and the fodder as well as the grain used for feed, the +refuse from the fodder and poor hay serving as bedding. About three +tons of cowpea hay of excellent quality were secured from the twelve +acres, and fifty barrels of apples were put in storage. + +Another cow and eight calves were bought, and during the winter, +some butter, two small bunches of the last spring's pigs, and the +apple crop were sold. A few eggs had been sold almost every week +since the previous March. + +In 1905 No. 1 was rented for corn on shares and produced about six +hundred bushels of which Percy received one-third. No. 2 yielded +four hundred and eighty-four bushels of oats. No. 3 produced +fourteen tons of poor hay. No. 4 was "rested" and prepared for +wheat, ground limestone having been applied. No. 5 was fall-plowed +from old meadow and well prepared and planted to corn in good time; +but, after the second cultivation, heavy rains set in and continued +until the corn was seriously damaged on the flat areas of the field, +the more so as he had not fully understood the importance of keeping +furrows open with outlets at the head-lands through which the excess +surface water could pass off quickly under such weather conditions. +Patches of the field aggregating at least five acres were so poorly +surface drained that the corn was "drowned out," and fifteen acres +more were so wet as to greatly injure the crop. However, on the +better drained parts of the field where the corn was given further +cultivation the yield was good and about 1,000 bushels of sound corn +were gathered from the forty acres. + +A mixture of timothy, redtop and weeds was cut for hay on No. 6, the +yield being better than half a ton per acre. + +The apples were a fair crop, and the total sales from that crop +amounted to $750, but about half of this had been expended for +trimming and spraying the trees, a spraying outfit, barrels, +picking, packing, freight and cold storage. A good bunch of hogs +were sold. + +Another year passed. Oats were grown on No. 1 and on part of No. 2, +yielding eleven bushels per acre. + +No. 3 yielded one-third of a ton of hay per acre. + +Wheat was grown on No. 4, and clover, the first the land had known +in many years, if ever, was seeded in the spring,--twenty acres of +red clover and twenty of alsike. + +The fifty-four acres of wheat, including fourteen acres on No. 2, +yielded seven and one-half bushels per acre. Soy beans were planted +on No. 5, but wet weather seriously interferred and only part of the +field was cut for hay. Limestone was applied, but heavy continued +rains prevented the seeding of wheat. + +No. 6 produced about twenty-seven bushels per acre of corn. + +Two lots of hogs were sold for about $800, and some young steers +increased the receipts by nearly $100. + +Mrs. Johnston continued to buy the groceries with eggs and butter; +but it was necessary to buy some hay, and the labor bill was heavy. + +No. 5 joined the twenty-eight acre pasture and on two other sides it +joined neighbors' farms where line fences were up, and on the other +side lay No. 4. + +Percy was trying to get ready to pasture the clover on No. 4, and a +mile of new fencing was required. The materials were bought and the +fence built, and when finished it also completed the fencing +required to enclose No. 5. The twenty-eight acre pasture was +inadequate for sixteen head of cattle and the young stock was kept +in a hired pasture. Unless he could produce more feed, Percy saw +that the farm would soon be overstocked, for some colts were growing +and eight cows were now giving milk. + +His hope was in the clover, but as the fall came on the red clover +was found to have failed almost completely, and the alsike was +one-half a stand. As the red clover had been seeded on the unlimed +strip there was no way of knowing whether the limestone had even +benefited the alsike. The neighbors had "seen just as good clover +without putting on any of that stuff." + +There were no apples, but the spraying had cost as much as ever, and +some team work had been hired. + +Three years of the hardest work; limestone on two forties, but only +twenty acres of poor clover on one and no wheat seeded on the other. +The neighbors "knew the clover would winter kill." The bills for +pasturing amounted to as much as the butter had brought; for the +twenty-eight-acre pasture had been very poor. The feed for the cows +for winter consisted of corn fodder, straw and poor hay, and not +enough of that. + +They had to do it--draw $150 from the Winterbine reserve, besides +what had been used for limestone. Part of it must go for clover +seed, for clover must be seeded before it could be grown. The small +barn must also be enlarged, but with the least possible expense. + +It was February. Wet snow, water, and almost bottomless mud covered +the earth. With four horses on the wagon, Percy had worked nearly +all day bringing in two "jags" of poor hay from the stack in the +field. It was all the little mow would hold. + +He had finished the chores late and came in with the milk. + +"Put on some dry clothes and your new shoes," said his mother, +"while I strain the milk and take up the supper. There is a letter +on the table. I hardly see how the mail man gets along through these +roads. They must be worse than George Rogers Clark found on his trip +from Kaskaskia to Vincennes. They say his route passed across only a +few miles from the present site of Heart-of-Egypt. I suppose the +letter is from Mr. West." + +Percy finished washing his hands, and opened the letter. Two cards +fell to the table as he drew the letter from the envelope. + +He picked up one of the cards, and read it aloud to his mother: + +_Mr. and Mrs. Strongworth Barstow + +__At home after March I, 1907 + +1422 College Avenue + +Raleigh, N. C._ + +_"With Grandma's Compliments,"_ was penciled across the top of the +card. Percy glanced at the other card and read the plain lines: + +_Announce the marriage of their daughter_ + +Did his eyes blurr? He laid the one card over the other, scanned Mr. +West's letter hurriedly, replaced it with the cards in the envelope, +and laid the letter at his mother's plate. + +Percy replaced his rubber boots with shoes, and his wet, heavy coat +with a dry one. + +"You remember the letter I had from the College?" he asked, as he +took his seat at the table. + +"Yes, I remember," she replied, "but the Institute was to begin +to-day." + +"I know," said Percy, "but Hoard and Terry both speak +to-morrow,--Terry in the morning and the Governor in the afternoon, +and they are the men the Professor especially wanted me to hear, if +I could. I think I'll 'phone to Bronson's and ask Roscoe to come +over and do the chores to-morrow noon. I can get back by nine +to-morrow night." + +"But, Dear, how in the world can you get to Olney to hear Mr. Terry +speak to-morrow morning?" + +"There is a train east about eight o'clock," he replied. "Of course +the roads are too awful to think of driving to the station, +especially since the mares ought not to be used much. I put four on +the wagon to-day and tried to be as careful as possible but it does +not seem right to use them. I can manage all right. I will get up a +little early in the morning and get things in shape so I can leave +here by daylight and I am sure I can make the B. & O. station by +eight o'clock easily. I will wear my rubber boots and carry my shoes +in a bundle. I can change at the depot and put my boots on again +when I get back there at seven at night. If it clears up, I will +have the moon to help coming home." + +But, Percy, you do not mean to walk five miles and back through all +this mud and water?" + +"I wish you would not worry, Mother. There is grass along the sides +most of the way, and I am used to the mud and water. I will spy out +the best track as I go in the morning and just follow my own trail +coming back." + +"Then it is time we were asleep," replied the mother. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +HARDER TIMES + + + + + +THE State Superintendent of Farmers' Institutes called the meeting +to order soon after Percy entered the Opera House at Olney about ten +o'clock the next morning. + +"Divine blessing will be invoked by Doctor T. E. Sisson, pastor of +the First Methodist Church of Olney:" + +"Oh, Thou, whose presence bright all space doth occupy and all +motion guide, all life impart, we come this morning in the capacity +of this Farmers' Institute to thank thee for Thy mercies and for Thy +blessings, and to invoke Thy presence and Thy continued favor. As +Thou with Thy presence hast surrounded all forms of creation and all +stages of being with the providences of welfare and development and +grace, so we pray, our Father, for guidance through the sessions of +this institute, for the providences of Thy love and Thy wisdom +divine as it reveals itself in the open field, in the orchard, in +the garden, bringing forth those things which replenish the earth +with food and fill the mouths of our hungry ones with bread. + +"We thank Thee for this larger knowledge which has come to the minds +of men, because they have been learning to study Thy works and to +walk closer to Thee. Wilt Thou, Heavenly Father, continue to +enlighten this body of men and women that are represented in this +great field of the world's busy hive so that the starving millions +of the world, now in our cities rioting for bread, and in the vast +nations where they are crying for food, may be fed. We pray Thee, +reveal such improvement of knowledge to these who are willing to get +close to Thee to learn Thy secrets and know Thy wisdom, as that unto +all shall be given plenty, for replenishing our physical needs. And +help us to know, our Father, as we learn Thy will and seek to do Thy +will and live in the higher courts of knowledge and wider circles of +thought, so shall God reveal himself unto us. + +"Our Father, we thank Thee for all the developments and great +sources of utility that come through the means of this institute in +the development of the resources of this country, this great State +and adjoining states through the length and breadth of this favored +nation. We pray, Heavenly Father, while studying all these +replenishments and seeking to defend them from the inroads of evil, +of the rust and the mildew and the worm, we pray also for the +beautiful homes, for the souls of the children given to our homes, +that we may study their mental and spiritual being in such a way as +shall keep all harm and evil and wrong from this life of ours, and +so to work in the field of Thy providences, revealed in hand and +mind and heart and relationships, of school and church and state and +farm, and all the activities of this life's great work, as that good +shall be our inheritance. + +"We pray Thee, Heavenly Father, to be with the officers of this +institute. Give Thy strength, Thy presence, and Thy discernment to +these who participate in the work, the membership and onlookers, and +those who come to learn. We pray Thee, give us the revelation of Thy +wisdom to replenish and build up every human family, and to Thee all +praise shall be given to-day for this blessing and for Thy continued +favor; and not only to-day but to-morrow and the day after and +through all eternity the praise shall be Thine, in the name of Him +who came into this world to give us the life of the knowledge of +God. Amen." + +"It may be," said the Chairman, "that a State Farmers' Institute +sometimes exercises a little arbitrary power in selecting subjects +we want to speak of. I think county institutes might adopt the same +plan to advantage, and assign the topic they wish discussed. + +"The topic assigned our speaker to-day is 'What I did and how I did +it.' It may sound egotistical, but I want to relieve the speaker of +that imputation, because the subject was selected by the Institute. + +"Allow me to present Mr. Terry, who needs no introduction to an +audience of American farmers:" + +Mr. Terry began to speak: + +"Thirty-six years ago last fall," he said, "my wife and I bought and +moved onto the farm where we now reside. We went on there in debt +$3,700, on which we had to pay seven per cent. interest. I had one +horse, an old one, and it had the heaves, a one-horse harness, and a +one-horse wagon, three tillage implements, and nine cows that were +paid for; and a wife and two babies, but no money. Now that was the +condition in which we started on this farm, thirty-six years ago, in +debt heavily, and no money; but that is not the worst of it. If it +had been as good soil as you have in some parts of this State, we +should have been all right. How about the soil? For sixty years +farmers had been running it down until it could scarcely produce +anything. We had a tenant on the place one year, before we could +arrange to move on, after we got it. They got eight bushels of wheat +per acre, and he said to me, 'That is a pretty good yield, don't you +think, for this old farm?' Oh, friends, I didn't think so;--never +ought to have bought this farm;--didn't know any better,--born and +brought up in town, my father a minister, and I thought a farm was a +farm. But I learned some things after awhile. That tenant mowed over +probably forty acres of land. (We originally bought one hundred and +twenty-five.) He put the hay in the barn. It measured twelve tons. +Half of that was weeds. Most of the hay he cut down in a swale. +There wasn't anything worth considering on the upland. That was the +condition of the land. + +"How about the buildings? The house had been used about sixty years, +an old story-and-a-half house. Dilapidated, oh, my! Every time the +rain came, we had to take every pan upstairs and set it to catch the +water. We did not have any money to put on more shingles. It was out +of the question, we couldn't do it. How about the dooryard? It was a +cow yard. They used it for a milking yard, for years and years. You +can imagine how it looked. The barn was in such condition that +cattle were just as well off outdoors as in. The roof leaked +terribly. The tenants had burned up the doors and any boards they +could take off easily. They were too lazy to take off any that came +off hard. They burned all the fences in reach. + +"Now friends, that was the farm we moved onto and the condition it +was in. Some of you will know we saw some pretty hard times for a +while. Time and again I was obliged to take my team, after we got +two horses (the second I borrowed of a relative, it was the only way +I could get one), and go to town to do some little job hauling to +get some money to get something to eat. That is the way we started +farming. I remember, after three or four years, meeting Dr. W. I. +Chamberlain. Some of you know him. He said: 'Terry, if you should +get a new hat, there wouldn't anybody know you. Your clothes wear +like the children of Israel's.' They had to wear. No one knew how +hard up we were. It was not best to let them know. That money was +borrowed of a friend in Detroit, secured on a life insurance policy. +We did not let anybody know how hard up we really were. My wife rode +to town (to church when she went), in the same wagon we hauled out +manure in, for a time. Time and again she had been to town when she +said she could not do without something any longer and came back +without it. Credit was good. We could have bought it. We didn't dare +to. + +"Now, friends, a dozen years from the time we started on that farm, +under these circumstances, we were getting from one hundred and +fifty to two hundred and fifty bushels of merchantable potatoes per +acre right along--not a single year, but on the average--varying, of +course, somewhat with the season. We were getting from four to five +tons of clover hay in a season, from two cuttings, of course, per +acre. We were getting from thirty-three to thirty-eight bushels of +wheat per acre, not one year, but for five years we averaged +thirty-five bushels per acre, and right on that same farm. No +fertility had been brought on to it, practically, from the outside. +A man without any money, in debt for the land $3,700, was able to do +this. Now, how did he do it? That is the question I have been asked +to talk upon. I have told you briefly something like what we have +accomplished. I might say, further, the old house I told you that we +lived in for fourteen years while we were building up the fertility +of this soil, we sold for $10, after we got through with it. It is +now a horse barn on the farm of our next neighbor and has been +covered over. + +"Eleven years from the time we started we paid the last $500 of our +debt, all dug out of that farm, not $25 from any other source. +Thirteen years from the time we started, we carried off the first +prize of $50 offered by the State Board of Agriculture of Ohio, for +the best detailed report of the best and most profitably managed +small farm in the state,--only thirteen years from the time we +started on that rundown land, and no fertility brought from the +outside; without any money; and meanwhile we had to live. + +"Now I had arranged with the tenant the first year, before we went +on there, to seed down a certain field. It had been under the plow +for some time. I wanted it seeded so I could have some land to mow +and he seeded half of it. It was only a little lot, about five +acres. He seeded half with timothy and left the other half. That was +his way of doing things, anyway. When we moved onto the farm later I +naturally wanted to finish that seeding and get that field in some +sort of shape for mowing. I went to my next neighbor, who lives +there yet, and asked him what I had better use. I didn't know +anything, practitically, about farming, and he advised me to try +some clover seed. He said: 'So far as I know, none was ever sown on +that farm. They have sowed timothy everlastingly, everybody, because +it is cheap. I knew timothy wouldn't grow there to amount to +anything If I were in your place I would try some clover.' + +"I got the land prepared and sowed that clover alone, so as to give +it a chance. I did have sense enough to mow off the weeds when they +got six or eight or ten inches high perhaps, so that the clover +could have a little better chance to grow. It happened to be a very +wet season. I remember that distinctly. This was a lot near to the +barn. I suppose what little manure they had hauled out had been +mostly put on this land. With these favoring conditions the result +was fairly good. Of course not half what we got later, but we got +quite a little clover and when I came to mow it, and to mow that +timothy at the other end, I could see I could draw the rake two or +three times as far in the timothy as in the clover. There was more +clover on an acre. A load of timothy would go in and a load of +clover. When I fed it to the cows in winter I noticed when feeding +clover for a number of days they gave more milk. I didn't know why. +I don't know as anybody knew why then. There wasn't an experiment +station in the land. We were following our own notions. But the cows +gave more milk; I could see that plainly. + +"A little later I had an experiment forced on me by accident. I tell +you just how it came about. It resulted in putting a good many +thousands in our pockets and I hope millions in the pockets of the +farmers of America. Later I wanted to plant corn on this field, and, +as I wanted to grow just as good corn as I could, I got out what +manure we saved and put it on the land preparing for plowing. I knew +there wouldn't be more than half enough to go over the field. I said +to myself, if there was any good corn, I would like it next to the +road where people would see it. Wouldn't any of you do it? I didn't +have a dollar to hire any help. I paid one dollar that year for +help, and it was awful hard to get that dollar. I began spreading +that manure next to the road. The back half of the field was nearly +out of sight. When I got half way back there wasn't any manure left +and the back half didn't get any. Now it so happened that the +timothy was on the front end of the field, and it got the manure. +The clover on the back half didn't get any. It came about in the +simple way I told you of. Naturally I didn't expect much corn where +I hadn't put any manure, but what was my surprise to find it was +just about as good on that clover end of the field without any +dressing as on the timothy end with what I had been able to put on. +It is only right I should say there wasn't much of the manure It was +poor in quality because we couldn't get grain for the cows when we +couldn't get enough for ourselves to eat. There wasn't much manure +and it was pretty poor, but such as it was that was the result. More +hay to the acre, better hay, increased fertility, some way, by +growing this clover! + +"Now let us go back a little. I think it was the second spring after +we moved onto the place that I happened to be crossing the farm of +my next neighbor, Mr. Holcombe, now dead. I found him plowing. He +had been around a piece of land, I should judge five acres, half a +dozen times. He was sitting on the plow, tired out,--too old to work +anyway. He said, 'I wish you would take this land and put in some +crop on the shares; I want to get rid of the work; I can't do it, +and would like to let you have it in some way. All I want is that it +should be left so I can seed it down in the fall again.' + +"It was an old piece of sod he had mowed in the old eastern way +until it wouldn't grow anything any longer. I don't suppose he got a +quarter of a ton of hay to the acre. He wanted it plowed so he could +re-seed it. I didn't know the value of the land, but, foolishly +perhaps, as most people thought, offered him five dollars an acre +for the use of it. I hadn't enough to do at home. I didn't have my +land in shape so I could do much. We were working along as fast as +we could. I thought I could do well if I had this job, and could +perhaps make something off it. He agreed to it. + +"I went home and got my team and plow, and finished the plowing. I +remember making those furrows narrow and turning the ground well, a +little deeper than it had been plowed before. I didn't realize what +I was doing, then. I simply had been brought up to do my work well. +I thought I was doing a good job, that was all. When I was through +plowing I got my old harrow, a spike-tooth, and harrowed the ground. +I had a roller. They were manufactured in our town. The firm bursted +and I had a chance to buy one very cheap. I had a roller, harrow, +and plow. That was all the tillage implements. The harrow had moved +the lumps around a little. I ran the roller over the lumps; then +harrowed, rolled, and harrowed. When the harrow would not take hold, +I put a plank across and rode on it. I worked that land alternately +until I had the surface as fine and nice as I could make it, two or +three inches deep. The harrow would not take hold any longer and I +had to quit. By and by a rain came. I didn't know anything about how +to till land,--this spring fallow business--but I happened to hit it +right. After it rained, I said that harrow will take hold better +now. I loaded the harrow and got on it, and tore that ground up +three or four inches deep. + +"The harrow teeth were sharp. I harrowed and rolled it and my +neighbor said, 'Terry, you are ruining that land, it will never grow +anything any more, it will all blow away.' I reminded him of his +bargain; I should raise what I pleased and take the crop home. Every +little while, I can't remember how often, I would go over and harrow +and roll that land. I probably plowed it the first week in April. +For two months that was a sort of savings bank for my work. I would +run over and work that land, occasionally, until, about the first +week in June, I had it prepared just as mellow and fine and nice as +it was possible to make it. It was nice enough for flower seeds." + +"I builded better then than I knew. I had no idea what the result +was going to be. When it was all ready, I sowed Hungarian grass +seed. I wish you could have seen the crop. It grew four and a half +or five feet high, as thick as it could stand on the land. I believe +if I had thrown my straw hat, it would have staid on the top. It was +enormous for that land. I had four big loads to the acre. You know +what you can put on a load of Hungarian. When I went by the owner's +house with those loads and took them to our barn, he was out there +and he looked awfully sour. That man, to my knowledge, had never +grown half as much to the acre since I had known of his being on the +land, probably never more than one-third as much. Old run-out +timothy sod; no manure, no fertilizer, nothing but the work,--this +spring fallowing. I enjoyed the matter more, because he had told +some of the neighbors he had got the start of that town fellow; I +would never see five dollars an acre back, out of the land. That was +his opinion of what I could raise. + +"Hay was hay that fall, after a dry season. We live in a dairy +section. The cows were there and had to be fed. I got $18 a ton for +that hay in our barn, something like $70 per acre. I think the laugh +was on the other side. That was my first awakening, along this line +of tillage. Didn't know how it came about, didn't know anything +about the fertility locked up in the soil, just the plain facts. I +did so and so, and got such and such results. The next year Charlie +Harlow, still living there, said, 'I wish you would put in some +Hungarian for me this spring.' I said, 'What part of the crop?--I +should want two-thirds.' He said he had an offer for half. I said, +'Then let him have it.' He replied, 'One-third of what you will +raise is more than half of what he will raise.' He saw what I did on +his brother-in-law's farm. + +"The following year I had a piece of land ready to grow corn, I had +cleared out the stumps and done the best I could to get it in shape. +I plowed it just as soon as the ground was dry enough, about the +first of April, that is. I worked it every little while just as +nearly as I could as the Hungarian land had been worked, I harrowed +and rolled, let it rest a while, then harrowed and rolled. I kept it +up until my next door neighbor, Mr. Croy, had planted his corn, and +it was four inches high and growing pretty well. Ours wasn't +planted. A neighbor came and said, 'I am sorry for you, Terry, you +don't know what you are about. You are fooling away your time. Your +corn ought to have been in before this.' I was harrowing and +rolling. I was determined to see whether I could do it over again. +Some of the neighbors said it couldn't be done again. + +"The fourth or fifth of June--too late, ordinarily, to plant corn +with us--I put in the crop. I wish you could have seen it grow! It +came up and grew from the word 'Go.' In four weeks it was ahead of +any corn about. It went ahead of my neighbor's corn that was three +or four inches high when ours was planted. We had a crop that, the +farm in the condition that it was, was considered as something +remarkable. They couldn't account for it, neither could I. All I +knew was I had been working the ground so and so and getting such +and such results. + +"Let us go back once more. The first year that I moved onto that +farm, the first fall, we had nine cows, and I wanted to save all of +the manure. Now, there wasn't an experimental station in the land. I +didn't know anything about the potassium or nitrogen in the liquid +manure, but I had seen where it dropped on the land and how the +grass grew. I thought it was plant food, and our land was hungry. I +said, I must try and save this manure, and not have it wasted. I +hadn't a dollar. What did I do? There was an old stable there that +would hold ten cows. It was in terrible shape. It had a plank floor +that was all broken. I tore it out. I hauled some blue clay. I +filled the stable four or five inches deep with the blue clay, wet +it, pounded it down, shaped it off and got it level, fixed it up +around the sides, saucer shape, so it would hold water. Then I laid +down some old boards (I couldn't buy new ones), and put in a lot of +straw there and put my cows in. I saved all that manure the first +year, all that liquid. I had twice as much, probably more, from the +same number of cows as had been saved on that farm before, and it +was much more valuable. That was the beginning the first winter, +when I hadn't anything. + +"For the horse stable I went to town and found some old billboards. +It was new lumber, but had been used for billboards. After the +circus the owner offered to sell the boards cheap, and to trust me. +He was a carpenter, and he jointed them. We put them crosswise on +the old plank floor, and when they got wet they swelled and became +practically water tight. I even crawled under and saw that there was +no liquid manure dropping down there. I drew sawdust and used for +bedding. I saved the liquid of the horse stable. I didn't know it +was worth three times as much, pound for pound, as the solid. I +didn't know it was worth two times as much in the cow stable, pound +for pound, as the solid. I found it out by experience. + +"Now, when I was in town, before going on this farm, I worked for S. +Straight & Son, the then great cheese and butter kings of the +Western Reserve. I was getting over a thousand dollars a year in +their office. They didn't want me to leave at all, but my wife and I +took a notion to be independent, to work for ourselves, and we +bought this old farm. We had a chance to work for ourselves, all +right. The first year we worked from early in the morning until nine +or ten o'clock at night, and then we tumbled into bed, too tired to +think, to get up and do it over again. I worked in the field, taking +out stumps and doing something, as long as I could see, and then +helped my wife to milk. We would get our supper along about nine or +ten o'clock. At the end of the year we had not one single dollar, +after paying our interest and taxes,--not one dollar to show for our +work. Do you wonder we were pretty discouraged? + +"I met Mr. Straight one day. He said: 'Terry, things are not going +very well in the office since you left. I wish you would come back. +You are not doing much over on that farm that I can see. You are +having a hard time. I will gladly give you $1,200 a year if you will +come back into our office.' It was a great temptation. Think what it +meant. To move back to town and have $100 a month. But I said, 'No, +Mr. Straight; I can't do it.' I don't deserve any credit for it, +friends: but I wasn't built that way. I can't back out. When I +undertake anything I have got to go through. I would have been +willing enough to leave that farm, if I had made a success of it, +after I made a success of it, as I thought then; but I wasn't +willing to give up, whipped--to acknowledge that I had undertaken +that job and had to back out and go back to town to make a living. + +"Some little incident sometimes will change the whole character of a +man's life. I remember, when we were in very hard conditions, we +were sitting under an apple tree in our door yard one evening. It is +there yet. Two men from town went by. One of them said to the other, +'What is Terry going to do?' The other said, 'If Terry sticks to it +he will make something out of that old farm.' Just as quick as a +flash, friends, I said, 'Terry will stick to it.' + +"You see what condition we were in. I began to put all these matters +together. I had been taught how to. In college I had been trained to +study and think, of course,--not to work with my hands. When I got +onto the work at first I worked myself almost to death with my +hands, and had no time to think or study; but gradually old methods +came around again and I began to think and study. I said: 'Here, +more hay to the acre, better hay, increased fertility by growing +that clover, increased fertility by working that soil so much.' I +didn't know why, but there was the fact. 'Now, isn't it possible to +put these matters together and so work them out as to build up the +fertility of this farm and make it blossom like the rose?' + +"I began to work it out. What was the first step? I sold eight or +nine cows to get a little money to start, thus cutting off +practically our whole source of income. There was no other way I +could get any money. We had to do some draining. A part of the land +we could not do anything with until it was tile-drained. It took +money to buy tile. I had to have a little help about the digging, +although I like to boast that I laid every tile on my farm with my +own hands. I buried every one and know it will stay there. They were +all sound and hard and good. In all these years not one has ever +failed, not one drain or tile. I worked day after day, in the rain, +wet to the skin, because it had to be done. It was the foundation of +our success. + +"As I was coming here yesterday, and passed so much of your flat +land, in need of drainage, I thought, drainage is the foundation of +success for lots of these people, down here in southern Illinois. +You can't do much until you have the water out of the land. Then you +have a chance to do something with tillage and manure-saving and +clover. But you throw away your efforts when you try to do this work +on land that is in need of drainage. + +"As fast as possible we fixed up this land. Of course, it took +years. We hadn't money, and there were many things that had to be +done,--changing fields, getting out stumps, doing drainage,--it all +took time. I had my plans made and was working as fast as I could. + +"Two things I did, to keep life in our bodies until we got ready to +make some money. One was to cut off every bit of timber on the farm. +Our neighbors laughed at us and prophesied rain and all that. There +were two things in my mind. We had to have money to live on, and I +managed to get quite a little of it in that way. In the next place +we didn't have much of a farm, and I wanted the land for tillage. We +can buy wood of the neighbors to-day, cheaper than we sold ours, so +we never lost anything. + +"Another way we got some money, as we went along, that helped us, +was raising forage crops. I did not attempt to put in crops that +required much hand labor. I raised Hungarian, and everything I could +to be fed to cows. In our dairying section, with feed often scarce +in the fall, farmers often had more stock than they could winter. We +could pick up cows cheaply on credit and hold them. I could winter +them for people, and the manure we used as a top dressing, to make +the clover grow. Starting with a little piece of land, we spread out +more and more, and got more and more enriched, and more and more +growing clover, and by and by we got all the cultivated land growing +it. Then we were ready for business. + +"I am afraid to tell you Illinois farmers, with your great big +farms, how large our farm was. We bought one hundred and twenty-five +acres. We sold off all but fifty-five. That didn't help us, for the +man who bought it was so poor he didn't pay us for over thirty +years. Then the land went up in price and he was able to sell it for +a good price and we got our money. Fifty-five acres were selected, +the best we could for our purpose. Twenty acres were so situated as +to have no value. Thirty-five acres were fairly good, tillable land, +the best we could pick out. I began a system of rotation, after we +got the land ready for it, of clover, potatoes, and wheat. My idea +was to have the clover gather fertility to grow potatoes and wheat. +I was going to make use of the tillage to help out all I could, and +sold the potatoes and wheat, and then had clover again, and so on +around the circle. Everybody said, of course I would fail. I didn't +know but I would. It was the only chance and I had to take it. + +"Of course it took quite a while to get this thing going. The first +three or four years didn't amount to much. After six or eight years +we were surprised at the result. We were getting more than we hoped +for. In a dozen years the whole country was surprised. I remember +when a reporter was sent from Albany, New York, to see what we were +doing, and reported in the "Country Gentlemen." We had visitors by +the score from various states, it made such a stir. They couldn't +believe it was possible for a man to take land as poor as that, and +make it produce so well. We had some they could see that had not +been touched. As I told you, in eleven years we were out of debt. +After about ten or eleven years we were laying up a thousand dollars +a year, above all living and running expenses, from this land, +raising potatoes and wheat. It doesn't seem possible to you, large +farmers, but you can't get around the facts. In 1883 we laid up +$1,700 from the land. But this was a little extra. + +"We wanted to build a new house. We had lived in the old shell long +enough. We had the money to pay cash down for the new house and to +pay for the furniture that went into it. We paid $3,500 cash down, +that fall, for the house and furniture, and every dollar taken out +of the land. Only two or three years before that we paid the last of +our debt. I had not done any talking or writing to speak of, at that +time. I did not begin until 1882 I never went to an institute, and +never wrote an article for a paper, except when called upon to do +it. I never sought such a job and prefer to stay at home on my farm. +It was only because I was called to do this work that I got into it. +For twenty-one years I was never at home one week during the winter +season. Farmers called for me and I didn't feel that I could refuse +to go. + +"Now, how did we do it? I told some of the things. Let us go down to +the science of the matter little, now. I didn't know anything about +the science at the time. That came later. Practice came first. We +know now--of course, you all know--that clover has the ability, +through the little nodules that grow on the roots, to take the free +nitrogen out of the air to grow itself. You know about four-fifths +of the air you are breathing is nitrogen in the form of gas, and +clover has the ability to feed on that and make use of it. The other +plants have not. I might illustrate it in this way: You can't eat +grass; at least, you wouldn't do very well on it. But the steer eats +grass and you eat the steer, so you get the grass, don't you? Your +corn, wheat, oats, timothy, potatoes, so far as we know, can't touch +free nitrogen in the air, but clover can and then feed it to those +other crops. + +"Let us look into how we got the phosphorus. On land that would not +grow over six to eight bushels of wheat per acre we have succeeded +once in growing forty-seven and three-fourths bushels to the acre, +on all the land sowed, of wheat that sold away above the market +price and weighed sixty-four pounds to the measured bushel, and +never put on a pound of phosphorus. We got it from that tillage we +told you about. Our land in northeastern Ohio is not very good +naturally. It is nothing like what you have in this state. Most of +you know that is the poorest land we have in the state in general, +but we have a fair share of clay and sand in ours. That has helped +us wonderfully. We have clay enough so that with our tillage we can +make so far all the plant food available we want. + +"Now, a little more about the tillage. I told you how we worked the +surface of that ground and made it fine and nice. After five or six +years, perhaps, of this kind of work, I got to thinking if I had +some tool that would stir that ground to the bottom of the plowed +furrow and mix it very deeply and thoroughly, I might get still +better results out of the tillage. I happened to be in town one +morning in the fall, when we had some wheat land (clover sod) plowed +and prepared for wheat. I had harrowed and rolled it and made it as +nice as I could.--It was what the neighbors would call all ready for +sowing and more than ready. In town I saw a man trying to sell a +two-horse cultivator. I think it was made in this State. It was the +first one I ever saw--you can judge how long ago. It was a big, +heavy, cumbersome thing,--a horse-killer. I thought, if I only had +that, I knew I could increase the fertility of our soil still more. +I hadn't any money. We hadn't got far enough that there was a dollar +to spare. What did I do? I gave my note for $50 and took that +cultivator home with me. I could have bought it for $35 in money, +but I didn't have it. My wife didn't say a word when I got home. I +have heard since that she did a lot of crying to think I would go in +debt $50 more, and all for that thing. + +"I got home about eleven o'clock and you can well suspect that I +couldn't eat any dinner that day. I hitched up and went right to +work, and told my wife I couldn't stop for any dinner. I rode that +cultivator that day and tore up that field in a way land was never +torn up in our section before. There was nothing to do it with. The +soil would roll up and tumble over. After going lengthwise I went +crosswise. A thousand hogs couldn't have made it rougher. The +neighbors looked on and said that 'Terry would do 'most anything if +you would only let him ride.' The worst of it was, I really didn't +know but what they were right, and all he would get out of it was +the riding. It was a serious thing. I had to wait until the harvest +time before I could know. + +"What was the result? I got ten bushels of wheat more per acre than +had ever grown on the land before, without any manure or fertilizer +having been applied since it grew the previous crop in the rotation. +Clover had been grown. It was a clover sod. I didn't know how much +came from the clover and how much from the tillage. I didn't care, +they went together to get that result. I asked some of the old +settlers how much had been grown there per acre during their +recollection. They said twenty-three bushels was the most they had +known. I got thirty-three. The neighbors said, 'It happened so, you +can't do it again.' You know how they talk, to make out nothing can +be done with an old farm. I was interested in doing it again. I paid +that note and had a large margin of profit left, you see, out of the +extra wheat. It all came right. + +"The next year I took the next field in rotation and worked it in +the same way, probably more. I got thirteen bushels more wheat per +acre than ever grew before. Thirty-six bushels of wheat! Such a +thing was never heard of in our section before; land that would not +grow anything a dozen years ago. Do you wonder I have been an +enthusiast on tillage since then? Why, they call me a crank +sometimes. It is a good crank, as it has turned out prosperity for +us. + +"After a time I began to think, can't we carry this matter a little +further? People generally don't cultivate their crops more than two +or three times in a season. Can I cultivate more to advantage? I +began to try it, six or eight times, eight or ten. I think there +have been dry years when I have cultivated our potatoes as many as +fifteen times. I don't believe we ever went through them when it +didn't pay. + +"I remember one fall, when it was a wet season. When the tops began +to die and got to the point where I could see the space between the +rows, I started the cultivators again. I had money then to hire men +and I hired plenty of them. I started to cultivate between the rows. +People said, ' What is the idiot doing now?' I said, 'He is going +to raise five bushels more by doing that work, that it what he is +after.' + +"Now, remember, more hay to the acre, better hay, increased +fertility by growing clover, increased fertility by working this +land over and over in the different ways I have told you of. They +used to send for me to talk on this subject, before I knew anything +about it, except that I had done it. In Wisconsin, some twenty years +ago, I helped at the first institute held in the state. They sent +for me to come up. I told them what I was doing and how I thought it +came about, what I thought clover was doing for me. When I was +through I asked Professor Henry, who was in the audience, to tell +me, honestly, what he thought about my talk. He said, 'As a farmer I +believe you are right, but as a scientific man I dare not say so in +public.' + +"Professor Roberts came to my place one time, to investigate a +little. I knew what he came for. I showed him around, and showed him +the land we had not touched, not to this day. He was a surprised +man. I remember the second crop of clover was at its best. It was +above his knees. He says, 'This will make two tons of hay to the +acre, and it is the second crop.' He didn't say but very little. I +couldn't get him to talk much. He went home and began that system of +experiments at Ithaca that has practically revolutionized the +agriculture of the east--experiments in tillage. Pretty soon we had +his book on the fertility of the soil. I think he got his +inspiration from what he saw. He said to himself, seems to me, +'Terry has something that scientific men do not know.' He got +samples of soil all over the state. They analyzed the soil and found +what the average soil of New York contained. They found about four +thousand five hundred pounds of nitrogen, six thousand three hundred +pounds of phosphoric acid, and twenty-four thousand pounds of potash +in an average acre eight inches deep; and they had been buying +potash largely. (Laughter.) + +"The farm we moved onto was the old Sanford homestead. Old Mr. +Sanford lived there and brought up a large family. I think five of +them boys. Every one of these boys left the farm just as soon as +they could get away. There wasn't anything in farming for them. +After we had been at work a dozen years or more and got things going +nicely, they came back (one of them lives in Connecticut) and +visited the old homestead. I remember Lorenzo said, 'It seems like a +miracle. I don't know how you did it. We worked from daylight to +dark, from one year's end to another, and never had anything. We +boys used to be promised a holiday on the Fourth of July if the corn +was all hoed. That was all we got. How on earth have you done these +things?' + +"Friends, there were three farms we bought. Old Mr. Sanford didn't +know anything about but one. There was the air and the soil and +there was the subsoil. He had been working only the soil, plowing it +three or four inches deep, scratching it over, taking what came, and +every year less and less came. The land had run down until the +surface had quit producing. We took the same soil, put in clover and +took the fertility out of the upper farm, the air, and out of the +lower one, the subsoil, and put it into the second one. We plowed +the surface soil a little deeper and deeper until we got it eight or +nine inches deep instead of four. We worked it more and more, +setting more and more of the available plant food in the soil free. +That is how we did it. + +"I say 'we' advisedly, because, friends, if I hadn't had a wife +fully able and willing to do her part, and more, I would not have +this story to tell." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +AN AWAKENING DREAM + + + + + +"THE chores are all done," said Mrs. Johnston, as Percy began to +take down his heavy work-coat about nine o'clock that evening. + +"You ought not to have done them," he chided as he slipped his arm +around her and drew her to the sofa. + +"Tell me about the Institute," she said, stroking the hair from his +forehead. + +He told her of the professors who were there from the University and +briefly reported the addresses he had heard. + +"And I verily believe," he added, "that if Terry were to wake up +some morning and find himself located on the "Barrens" of the +Highland Rim of Tennessee, he would start out with the firm +conviction that all he would need to do to become a successful +farmer there would be to sow clover and then 'work the land for all +that's in it.' But, after all, it is not so strange, perhaps, that +one who has himself discovered and then utilized the power of clover +and tillage to restore and increase the productive power of land +rich in limestone, phosphorus and all other essential mineral plant +food, should jump to the fixed and final conclusion that the same +system of treatment is all that is needed to make any and all land +productive. The fact that Terry's land (if equal to the nearby New +York land) contained two thousand three hundred pounds of phosphorus +in the plowed soil of an acre when he began to work it out, while +the soil of the Tennessee "Barrens" contains only about one +hundred pounds, does not disturb him or modify his opinion so long +as his personal experience is limited to his own land. + +"Terry's problem was easier than Mr. West's on his Virginia farm, +where the soil is acid and hence limestone must be used liberally in +order that clover and other legumes may be grown successfully. Even +the supply of phosphorus and other mineral elements is probably +greater in Terry's farm in northeastern Ohio than in the soil of +Westover. + +"Our problem is even more difficult, because we must not only +increase the supply of active organic matter, although we have a +reserve of old humus far above that contained in the Terry or West +farms; but in addition we need more limestone than Mr. West and then +we must add the phosphorus. Of course the surface washing is a +serious factor on Westover, but perhaps our tight clay subsoil is +worse. + +"But I learned at least two things that I shall try to profit by. +One of these was from Governor Hoard's lecture on 'Cows Versus Cows, +and the man behind the cow'; and the other is that we must do more +work on the land." + +"Oh, Percy, I am so sorry you went. How can you possibly do more +work than you have been doing?" + +"I may need to hire more," he replied; "and, of course, that will +further increase our expenses, but, it will surely pay to do well +what we try to do." + +"When does my boy expect to get married?" she asked, softly, as +she gently stroked his hair. + +"I am married," he replied. + +She looked at him in wonder. + +"Mother mine, I thought that you knew I was married." + +"Your face is blank sincerity, as usual," she said smiling, "but you +never deceive me with your voice. Your voice reveals every attempt +at deception. Tell me what you mean." + +His voice was sincere now. "I am married to a farm and laboring +together with God. After hearing Terry's talk, I am more than ever +determined to continue to do my part, working in the light as He +gives me the power to see the light." + +"Percy, dear," she asked, "did you know the bride whose wedding +cards you received yesterday?" + +"Don't you remember what I told you of Adelaide West, Mr. West's +daughter?" he queried. + +"I thought so," said the mother. She stepped to Percy's home-made +desk, and from one of the pigeon holes, drew out a bunch of letters, +and selected the top and bottom letters from the pile. + +"Here are the first and last letters you have received from Mr. +West. Did you ever see this?" She drew out a crumpled piece of +paper and placed it in his hand. + +_"Her Grandma had not consented,"_ he read. "What does that mean?" + +"I do not know and I did not know when I read it three years ago. It +came in your first letter from Mr. West. I thought you had not found +it in the envelope, but you gave me the letter to read and I found +it. I left it in the letter, but never till to-day did I feel that I +ought to mention it to you. Yesterday you received a letter with two +cards; but you read only one of them to me." + +"But I saw the other was only the wedding announcement, and I left +them both in the letter for you to read." + +"And I read them both," she said. "Read this." + +Percy took the card and slowly read: + +_Mr. and Mrs. Clarance Voit + +Announce the marriage of their daughter + +Ameila Louise + +to + +Professor Paul Strongworth Barstow_ + +She watched his face but saw no sign. She kissed his forehead and +then pointed to the writing, _"With Grandma's Compliments,"_ saying, +"I do not know what this means, but I thought my boy might be +getting too careless, when he fails to read even the wedding +announcement of college professors, sent to him by such a good +friend as Grandma West may intend to be." + +Percy looked into his mother's face as if to read her thoughts. + +"I think I understand what you have in mind," he said. "Mr. West has +mentioned once or twice that Adelaide was teaching school, but I +supposed that she was trying to earn enough to buy her own wedding +outfit." + +"Perhaps that is true," replied the mother, "and perhaps she is +already married or soon to be married; but I thought you ought to +know that she had not married Professor Barstow, lest you might +allude to it in your letters to Mr. West." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +HONEY WITHOUT WAX + + + + + +"WELL, I reckon the cowboy's gone back to 'tend to his cows," remarked +the grandmother to Adelaide, as she returned from taking Percy to +Blue Mound and found the old lady sitting on the lawn bench +apparently enjoying the mild late November weather. "Did you leave +him at the station or see him off?" + +"Neither," Adelaide replied, sitting down beside her. "The train was +late, and he insisted on coming back with me to the first turn, and +then stood and watched till I came within sight of home at the next +turn. I doubt if he is back to the station yet." + +"He reminds me, Pet, of the Latin definition you gave for _sincere," +_remarked the grandmother. "Pure honey without wax, wasn't it?" + +"Oh, no, Grandma. Not pure honey. It says nothing about honey. Sine +is the Latin for _without, _and _cera _means _wax; _so that our word +_sincere, _taken literally from the Latin, means _without wax."_ + +"Oh, yes, I see now; but let me tell you, Adelaide, I think that +professor of yours is right smart wax." + +"Why, Grandma! I never heard you say such a thing. You know papa and +mamma like Professor Barstow and I think I like him too, and,--and +he has papa's consent, and mamma's consent." + +"Well, you never heard me say such a thing before and you won't ever +hear it again, but he hasn't got my consent. I think he's some wax, +but I reckon you think he's some honey, and I know he thinks he's +some punk'ns. Of course, your father would like an English or +Scottish nobleman for a son-in-law, or at least a college professor +with a string of ancestry reaching across the water; but the Henry's +prefer to make their own reputations as they go along, and I doubt +if Patrick ever saw England or Scotland. I tell you, Adelaide, a +pound of gumption will make a better husband than a shipload of +ancestry, and I just hope you will more than like your husband, +that's all." + +With that the old lady arose and walked to the house. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +INSPIRATION + + + + + +WESTOVER, + +March 14, 1907. + +Mr. Percy Johnston, + +Heart-of-Egypt, Ill. + +MY DEAR Friend:--We were delighted to receive your interesting +letter of March 2, describing the Farmer's Institute. I have been to +two such meetings in Virginia, but they are devoted to fruit and +truck and dairying, and no one seems to know much about our soils. I +appreciate more and more every year the absolute knowledge you +helped me to secure concerning Westover, where we had been working +in the dark for two centuries. I am sure you will succeed on +Poorland Farm,--just as confident as any one can be in advance of +actual achievement; and I expect to see the time when Richland Farm +will be a more appropriate name. + +I only wish you could see my alfalfa. I have been seeding more every +year and now have sixty acres. It has come through winter in fine +condition and it will be a fine sight by Easter. Here's a standing +invitation to take Easter dinner with us, or any other dinner, for +that matter, if you ever come East. + +I am planning to sow about forty acres more alfalfa this year. A +writer for the _Breeder's Gazette _visited us last summer, and he +said some of our alfalfa was as good as any he had ever seen in +California. He said ground limestone was plainly what we need for +alfalfa at Westover, but he thought some phosphorus would also help +on the less rolling areas, where the alfalfa is not so good as where +you found more phosphorus. + +Lime and raw rock phosphate make the difference between clover and +no clover. + +I can get ground limestone for $2.90 a ton now, delivered at Blue +Mound in bulk in carload lots. We are hoping to get it still lower, +and I think we will, for some of the big lime manufacturers, such as +the company at Riverton, are making plans to furnish ground +limestone; and the railroad companies are likely to make better +rates, or the State will do so for them. + +It is truly a lamentable situation, when our hills and mountains are +full of all sorts of limestone, and our exhausted lands are crying +for that more than anything else. We understand, even better than +you, that everybody is poor in a country where the land is poor; and +it should be to the greatest interest of the railroad companies as +well as to all other industries, to unite in an effort to make it +possible for every landowner to apply large amounts of limestone to +his land,--the more the better,--and no one should expect any large +profit from the business; but wait till the benefit is produced on +the land,--wait till the farmer has his increased crops, and some +money from the sale of those crops. Then the railroads can make +profit hauling those crops to market and hauling back the necessary +supplies, and even the luxuries, which the farmer's money will +enable him to buy and pay for. Then the factory wheels will turn; +for, as you told us, the Secretary of Agriculture reports that +eighty-six per cent. of all the manufactured products are made from +agricultural raw materials. + +There is no danger but what the railroads and manufacturers and +commercial people will get their share out of the produce from the +farms; but it is absolutely sure that, when the farms fail to +produce, then there is no profit for any of them, and the last man +to starve out will be the farmer himself, for he can live on what he +raises even though he has nothing left to sell. + +We are all well. My son Charles is still bookkeeping for a Richmond +firm, but he is becoming greatly interested in my alfalfa, and says +he sometimes wishes he had taken an agricultural course instead of +the literary at college. His grandmother says she reckons the +agricultural college could give him about all the literature he +needs keeping books for a hides and tallow wholesale company; and I +am coming to believe that she is about right. I still remember that +the dative of indirect object is used with most Latin verbs +compounded with _ad, ante, con, in, inter, ob, post, pre, pro, sub, +_and _super, _and sometimes _circum; _but it would have been just as +easy for me to have learned forty years ago that the essential +elements of plant food are carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen; nitrogen, +phosphorus, and potassium; magnesium, calcium, iron and sulfur; and +possibly chlorin; and I am sure that the culture of Greek roots and +a knowledge of Latin compounds have been of less value to me during +the forty years than the culture of alfalfa roots and even a meager +knowledge of plant-food compounds have been during the last three +years. + +Adelaide is teaching; Frank is in the academy; and the younger +children are all in school. + +We shall always be glad to hear from you. + +Very respectfully yours, + +CHARLES WEST. + +"That is an exceptionally good letter," said Mrs. Johnson, as Percy +finished reading. + +"Not for Mr. West," he replied. "His letters are always good, always +helpful and encouraging, almost an inspiration to me. Mr. West is in +many ways a very exceptional man. If he had not been tied down all +his life to a so-called worn-out farm of a thousand acres, he might +just as well have been the Governor of the State. Even in spite of +himself he has been practically forced to accept some very +responsible public offices, but the financial sacrifice was too +great to permit his retaining them very long. I never realized until +I was nearly through college that the trustees of our own University +devoted a large amount of time to that public service with no +financial remuneration whatever. They are merely reimbursed for +their actual and necessary travelling expenses." + +"Well, if I were a young man about your age, this letter would be an +inspiration to me," said his mother. + +"You mean his suggestion about changing the name of our farm?" + +"No, I mean his possible suggestion about changing the name of his +daughter." + +Percy was silent. + +"How can I tell anything from your blank face? Why do you not +speak?" + +"You will have to show me," said Percy. + +"Will you accept his invitation?" + +"Oh, Mr. West always closes his letters with an invitation for me to +visit them if I ever come East. There is nothing exceptional or +unusual in that." + +"The letter is very exceptional," she repeated, "insomuch that if +there is no understanding there is no misunderstanding, and if there +is some misunderstanding there was no intention. When Mrs. Barton +says: 'Do come over when you can,' there is no invitation intended +and no acceptance expected; but when Mrs. McKnight says: 'Can't you +and your son come over and take supper with us Thursday +evening,'--well that is an invitation to come. In the case of Mr. +West's letter, perhaps you had an invitation to spend the Easter +vacation at Westover when his daughter will be at home,--and perhaps +not." + +Percy was silent and his mother quietly waited. + +"In any case," he said, "I cannot afford to go this spring. We never +were so short of funds. I almost begrudged the railroad fare I paid +to go to the Institute." + +"I have agreed to agree with you regarding the matter of hiring more +help on the farm if you need it," she said; "for it is easily +possible to lose by saving. There are some things which should never +be influenced by financial considerations. It is more than three +years since your Eastern trip. You need a rest and a change. It +would be entirely commonplace for you to spend the Easter time in +Virginia. You ought to see the country in the spring; and you ought +especially to be interested in Mr. West's sixty acres of alfalfa. +Expectations are always followed either by realization or by +disappointment, either of which my noble son can bear." + +Her fingers passed through his hair as she kissed his forehead. + +"The only question is, whether you would enjoy a visit to Westover," +she continued. "You have insisted that the Winterbine deposit +remain in my name, but I have written and signed a check against +that reserve for $100, and you have only to fill in the date and +draw the amount at the County Seat whenever you wish. If you go, +express my regards to the ladies, and especially remember me to the +grandmother." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +THE KINDERGARTEN + + + + + +HEART-OF-EGYPT, ILLINOIS, + +November 9, 1909. + +Hon. James J. Hill, + +Great Northern Railroad Company, St. Paul, Minnesota. + +MY DEAR SIR:--I have read with very great interest your article in +the November _World's Work _on "What We Must Do to be Fed." I wonder +if you read _The American Farm Review!_ In the editorial columns of +that journal, issue of October 28, 1909, occurs the following: + +"The pessimist always assumes that every man who quits farming for +some other business does so because there is something the matter +with the farm. Mr. James J. Hill has recently considered the +question and decided that, unless the farmer and his family can be +confined on the land and be compelled to do better work than they +have been doing, the balance of the population must starve to death. +The bug-aboo of impending decadence raised by such talk is based +upon a wrong assumption, inadequate statistics, and a failure to +comprehend the evolutional movement in agriculture." + +The evolutional movement means, of course, that we are different +from other people. Have not England, Germany and France run their +lands down until they produce only fourteen bushels of wheat per +acre and have we not steadily built ours up to an average yield of +thirty bushels? Other peoples wear out their soil because they fail +to have part in the evolutional movement; whereas, did we not come +to America and at once begin to make our rich land richer than it +ever was in the virgin state? Do you not know, Sir, that the oldest +lands in America are now the richest, most productive, and most +valuable? We admit, of course, that the Bureau of Soils of the +United States Department of Agriculture reports the common level +upland loam soil of St. Mary country, Maryland, to be valued at $1 +to $3 an acre, and the same kind of land in Prince George county, +adjoining the District of Columbia, to be worth $1.50 to $5; but do +you not know the American evolutional movement could easily move all +those decimal points two places and at once make those values read +from $100 to $500 an acre. And likewise, it would be a very simple +matter to change the yield of corn in Georgia from eleven bushels +per acre and have it read one hundred and ten bushels. Why not, if +an acre of corn in the adjoining State of South Carolina has +produced two hundred and thirty-nine bushels in one season? Do you +not see that this simple evolution would also put plate glass in the +thousands of windowless homes now inhabited by human beings, both +white and colored, in the state of Georgia? + +There is another phase of this evolutional movement which should not +be overlooked. There is already fast developing in this country a +class of people who can live and grow fat on hot air, and they will +tell you that your only trouble is poor digestion, and they are glad +that they can see the bright side of things and enjoy life in this +glorious country, assured that the future will take care of itself. +Have not all other great agricultural countries rapidly gotten into +this evolutional movement until all their people live on Easy +Street? + +I have a letter from a missionary in China, a former schoolmate, +Clarence Robertson, who resigned the position of Assistant Professor +of mechanical engineering in Purdue University in order to accept in +the largest sense the Master's specific invitation to "Go ye, +therefore, and teach all nations." + +This letter was written in February, 1907 and contained the +following statement regarding the famine district in which the +writer was located: + +"At the present time the only practical thing to do is to let four +hundred thousand people starve, and try to get seed grain for the +remainder to plant their spring crops." + +I think we have failed utterly, Mr. Hill, to lay special emphasis +upon either the evolutional or the emotional in agriculture. Is it +not probable that a superabundance of emotion would even permit the +constitution to wave the bread requirement in the +bread-and-water-with-love diet? As a cure for pessimism the +emotional tonic is strongly recommended. + +On the other hand, there are some people who are even too emotional, +people who are inclined to sit up and take notice when the +mathematics and statistics are spread out in clear light and plainly +reveal the fact that the time is near at hand when their children +may lack for bread. (They already lack for meat and milk and eggs in +many places). To ally any feeling of this sort that might tend to +excite those who are so emotional as even to love their own +grandchildren, some sort of soothing syrup should be administered. A +preparation put out by the Chief of the United States Bureau of +Soils and fully endorsed by the great optimist, the Secretary of +Agriculture, is recommended as an article very much superior to Mrs. +Winslow's. As a moderate dose for an adult, read the following +extracts from pages 66, 78, and 80 of Bureau of Soils Bulletin 55 +(1909), by the Chief of the Bureau: + +"The soil is the one indestructible, immutable asset that the nation +possesses. It is the one resource that cannot be exhausted; that +cannot be used up." + +"From the modern conception of the nature and purpose of the soil it +is evident that it cannot wear out, that so far as the mineral food +is concerned it will continue automatically to supply adequate +quantities of the mineral plant foods for crops." + +"As we see it now, the main cause of infertile soils or the +deterioration of soils is the improper sanitary conditions +originally present in the soil or arising from our injudicious +culture and rotation of crops. It is, of course, exceedingly +difficult to work out the principles which govern the proper +rotation for any particular soil." + +"As a national asset the soil is safe as a means of feeding mankind +for untold ages to come. So far as our investigations show, the soil +will not be exhausted of any one or all of its mineral plant food +constituents. If the coal and iron give out, as it is predicted they +will before long, the soil can be depended on to furnish food, +light, heat, and habitation not only for the present population but +for an enormously larger population than the world has at present." + +"Personally, I take a most hopeful view of the situation as respects +the soil resources of our country and of the world at large. I +cannot bring myself to believe that the discouraging reports that +have been issued from time to time as to the threatened +deterioration of our soils, as to the exhaustion of any particular +element of fertility, will ever be realized." + +Sweeten to taste, and repeat the dose if necessary. + +If you desire mathematical proof that we can always continue to take +definite and measurable amounts of plant food away from the limited +supplies still remaining in our American soils and still have enough +left to supply the needs of all future crops, let it be understood: + +That y = x + +Then xy = X3 + +And xy-y2 = x3-y2 + +Or y(x-y)=(x + y) (x-y) + +Hence, y = x + y + +Thus, y = 2y + +Therefore, 1=2 + +Now cube both sides of the last equation and: + +1=8 + +Multiply by one hundred and sixty, the number of pounds of +phosphorus still remaining in the common upland soil of Southern +Maryland, and behold: + +160 =1280 + +Thus the soil again becomes the equal of the $200 corn belt +land,--Q. E. D. + +Fortunately, Mr. Hill, you have not found it "exceedingly difficult +to work out the principles which govern the proper rotation" that +"actually enriches the land." + +Seriously, I hope you will permit me to take this opportunity to say +that I deplore, as must all right-minded and clear-thinking men, the +occasional petty criticisms which attribute to you some selfish +motive for the honest and noble stand you have taken concerning the +importance of immediate action and of a widespread, far-reaching, +and generally effective movement looking toward, not the +conservation, but the restoration, and permanent preservation of +American soils. According to the Scriptures, there is a sin which +God, Himself, will not forgive; namely, the sin of imputing bad +motives to the one who does right from motives only good and pure. + +Thoughts that deserve a place of honor in American history you have +expressed in the following words: + +"The farm is the basis of all industry, but for many years this +country has made the mistake of unduly assisting manufacture, +commerce, and other activities that center in cities, at the expense +of the farm. The result is a neglected system of agriculture and the +decline of the farming interest. But all these other activities are +founded upon the agricultural growth of the nation and must continue +to depend upon it. Every manufacturer, every merchant, every +business man, and every good citizen is deeply interested in +maintaining the growth and development of our agricultural +resources. Herein lies the true secret of our anxious interest in +agricultural methods; because, in the long run, they mean life or +death to future millions; who are no strangers or invaders, but our +own children's children, and who will pass judgment upon us +according to what we have made of the world in which their lot is to +be cast." + +True and noble thoughts are these, from the master mind of a great +statesman; for there are statesmen who neither grace nor disgrace +the Halls of Congress. + +Your article contains twenty-eight pages of wholesome reading matter +and instructive illustrations, and, in addition, about one page, I +regret to say, of misinformation that will do much to destroy your +otherwise valuable contribution to agricultural literature. + +Briefly you have shown very clearly and very correctly that the +present practice of agriculture in America tends toward land ruin, +and that, with our rapidly increasing population, with continued +depletion of our vast areas of cultivated soils, and with no +possibility of any large extension of well-watered arable lands, we +are already facing the serious problem of providing sufficient food +for our own people. + +You summarize your conclusions along this line in the following +words: + +"We have to provide for a contingency not distant from us by nearly +a generation, but already present. The food condition presses upon +us now. The shortage has begun. Witness the great fall in wheat +exports and the rise of prices. Obviously it is time to quit +speculating about what may occur even twenty or thirty years hence, +and begin to take thought for the morrow. As far as our food supply +is concerned, right now the lean years have begun." + +It is certain that the time is near when our food supplies shall +become inadequate if our present practices continue, but the +enforced reduction in animal products will at least postpone the +time of actual famine in America. I keep in mind always that we are +feeding much grain to domestic animals, an extremely wasteful +practice so far as economy of human food is concerned; because, as +an average, animals return in meat and milk not more than onefifth +as much food value as they destroy in the corresponding grain +consumed; and, as we gradually reduce the amounts of grain that are +fed to cattle, sheep, and swine, we shall also gradually increase +our human food supply. Ultimately our milk-producing and +meat-producing animals will be fed only the grass grown upon the +non-arable lands and possibly some refuse forage not suitable for +human food or more valuable for green manure, unless we modify our +present practice and tendency, which we can do if the proper +influences are exerted by the intelligent people of this country, +and thus make possible the continuation of high standards of living +for all our people. + +I keep in mind, too, that much of the food taken into the average +American kitchen is wasted, and that progress in the science of +feeding the man will ultimately prevent this waste and, by adding to +this better preparation and combination of foods, will increase to +some extent the nutritive value of our present food supply. + +The serious fact remains, however, that our older lands are +decreasing in productive power and, in spite of what may be +accomplished by such methods of conservation, we are now facing a +rapidly approaching shortage of food supplies for the rapidly +increasing population of these United States; and you have put me +and all other American citizens under lasting obligations to you for +your frankness, good sense, and true patriotism in thus pointing out +n advance our great national weakness. + +According to the statistics of the United States Government, a +comparison of the last five years reported in this century with the +last five years of the old century, shows, by these two five-year +averages, that our annual production of wheat has increased from +about five hundred million to seven hundred million bushels: that +our annual production of corn has increased from two and one-quarter +billion to two and three-quarter billion bushels; that our wheat +exports have decreased from thirty-seven per cent. to seventeen per +cent. of our total production; that our corn exports have decreased +from nine per cent. to three per cent. of our total production; and +yet the average price of wheat, by the five-year periods, has +increased thirty-one per cent., and the average price of corn has +increased ninety-one per cent., during the same period. + +The latest Year Book of the Department of Agriculture (1908 ) +furnishes the average yields of wheat and corn for four successive +ten-year periods, from 1866 to 1905. By combining these into two +twenty-year periods this record of forty years shows that the +average yield of wheat for the United States increased one bushel +per acre, while the average yield of corn decreased one and one-half +bushels per acre, according to these two twenty-year averages. + +If we consider only the statistics for the North-Central states, +extending from Ohio to Kansas and from "Egypt" to Canada, the same +forty-year record shows the average yield of wheat to have increased +one-half bushel per acre, while the average yield of corn decreased +two bushels per acre. + +Thus, notwithstanding the great areas of rich virgin soils brought +under cultivation in the West and Northwest during the last forty +years, notwithstanding the abandonment of great areas of wornout +lands in the East and Southeast during the same years, +notwithstanding the enormous extension of dredge ditching and tile +drainage, and, notwithstanding the marked improvement in seed and in +the implements of cultivation, the average yield per acre of the two +great grain crops of the United States has not even been maintained, +the decrease in corn being greater than the increase in wheat, and +not only for the entire United States, but also for the great new +states of the corn belt and wheat belt. + +( Seasonal variations are so great that shorter periods than +twenty-year averages cannot be considered trustworthy for yield per +acre.) + +Meanwhile, the total population of the United States increased from +thirty-eight millions in 1870 to seventy-six millions in 1900, or an +increase of one hundred per cent. in thirty years; and the only +means by which we have been able to feed this increase in population +has been by increasing our acreage of cultivated crops and by +decreasing our exportation of foodstuffs; and I need not remind you +that the limit to our relief is near in both of these directions. +But have we decreased our exportation of phosphate? Oh, no. On the +contrary, under the soothing influence of the most pleasing and +acceptable doctrine that our soil is an indestructible, immutable +asset, which cannot be depleted, our exportation of rock phosphate +has increased during the years of the present century from six +hundred and ninety thousand tons in 1900, to one-million three +hundred and thirty thousand tons in 1908, an increase of practically +one hundred per cent., in accordance with the published reports of +the United States Geological Survey. + +But I am writing to you, Mr. Hill, not only to thank you for what +you have said and shown in the twenty-eight pages above referred to, +but also in part to repay my obligation to you by giving you some +correct information, which I am altogether confident you will +appreciate; namely, that, while you are a graduate student or past +master in your knowledge of the supply and demand of the world's +markets, you are just entering the kindergarten class in the study +of soil fertility, as witness the following extracts from the one +erroneous page of your article. + +"Right methods of farming, without which no agricultural country +such as this can hope to remain prosperous, or even to escape +eventual poverty, are not complicated and are within the reach of +the most modest means. They include a study of soils and seeds, so +as to adapt the one to the other; a diversification of industry, +including the cultivation of different crops and the raising of live +stock; a careful rotation of crops, so that the land will not be +worn out by successive years of single cropping; intelligent +fertilizing by the system of rotation, by cultivating leguminous +plants, and, above all, by the economy and use of every particle of +fertilizing material from stock barns and yards; a careful selection +of grain used for seed; and, first of all perhaps in importance, the +substitution of the small farm, thoroughly tilled, for the large +farm, with its weeds, its neglected corners, its abused soil, and +its thin product. This will make room for the new population whose +added product will help to restore our place as an exporter of +foodstuffs. Let us set these simple principles of the new method out +again in order: + +_"First--_The farmer must cultivate no more land than he can till +thoroughly. With less labor he will get more results. Official +statistics show that the net profit from one crop of twenty bushels +of wheat to the acre is as great as that from two of sixteen, after +original cost of production has been paid. + +_"Second--_There must be rotation of crops. Ten years of single +cropping will pretty nearly wear out any but the richest soil. A +proper three or fiveyear rotation of crops actually enriches the +land. + +_"Third--_There must be soil renovation by fertilizing; and the best +fertilizer is that provided by nature herself--barnyard manure. +Every farmer can and should keep some cattle, sheep, and hogs on his +place. The farmer and his land cannot prosper until stock raising +becomes an inseparable part of agriculture. Of all forage fed to +live stock at least one-third in cash value remains on the land in +the form of manure that soon restores worn-out soil to fertility and +keeps good land from deteriorating. By this system the farm may be +made and kept a source of perpetual wealth." + +Your _first principle _will be agreed to and emphasized by all; but +it should be kept in mind that the large farms are frequently better +tilled than the small farms. The $200 land in the corn belt is +usually "worked for all that's in it." It is tile-drained and well +cultivated, and the best of seed is used. If more thorough tillage +would increase the profits, these corn-belt farmers would certainly +practice it. + +It ought to be known (1) that as an average of six years the +Illinois Experiment Station produced seventy and three-tenths +bushels of corn per acre with the ordinary four cultivation, and +only seventy-two and eight-tenths bushels with additional +cultivation even up to eight times; and (2) that the average yield +of corn in India on irrigated land varies from seven bushels in poor +years to twelve bushels in good seasons, and this is where the +average farm is about three acres in size. + +One Illinois farmer with a four-horse team raises more corn than ten +Georgia farmers with a mule a piece on the same total acreage +Fertile soil and competent labor are the great essentials in crop +production. A mere increase in country population does not increase +the productive power of the soil. + +The farms down here in "Egypt" average much smaller than those in +the corn belt of Illinois, but our "Egyptian" farms are nevertheless +poorly tilled as a rule and some of them are already becoming +abandoned for agricultural purposes. + +Certainly the land should always be well tilled, but tillage makes +the soil poorer, not richer. Tillage liberates plant food but adds +none. "A little farm well tilled" is all right if well manured, but +it should not be forgotten that the men who consider "Ten Acres +Enough" are market gardeners, or truck farmers, who are not +satisfied until in the course of six or eight years they have +applied to their land about two hundred tons of manure per acre, all +made from crops grown on other lands. + +All the manure produced in all the states would provide only thirty +tons per acre for the farm lands of Illinois. In round numbers there +are eighty million cattle and horses in the United States, and our +annual corn crop is harvested from one hundred million acres. All +the manure produced by all domestic animals would barely fertilize +the corn lands with ten tons per acre if none whatever were lost or +wasted; and, if all farm animals were figured on the basis of +cattle, there is only one head for each ten acres of farm land in +the United States. + +Your _second principle _is, that "a proper three or five-year +rotation of crops actually enriches the land." + +I hope the God of truth and a long-suffering, misguided people will +forgive you for that false teaching. If there is any one practice +the value of which is fully understood by the farmers and landowners +in the Eastern states and in all old agricultural countries, it is +the practice of crop rotation. Indeed, the rotation of crops is much +more common and much better understood and much more fully +appreciated in the East than it is in the corn belt. Practically all +we know of crop rotation we have learned from the East. Every old +depleted agricultural country has worn out the soil by good systems +of crop rotation. I once took a legal option of an "abandoned" farm +in Maryland (beautiful location, two miles from a railroad station, +gently undulating upland loam, at $10 per acre) that had been worn +out under a four-year rotation of corn, wheat, meadow and pasture. A +few acres of tobacco were usually grown in one corner of the corn +field, and clover and timothy were regularly used for meadow and +pasture. Wheat, tobacco and livestock were sold, and manure was +applied for tobacco and so far as possible for corn also. In the +later years of the system the ordinary commercial fertilizer was +also applied for the wheat at the usual rate of two hundred pounds +per acre, this having become a "necessity" toward the end of this +slow but sure system of land ruin. + +The "simple principles" of your "new method" were understood and +practiced in Roman agriculture two thousand years ago; and they +included not only thorough tillage, careful seed selection, regular +crop rotation, and the use of farm manure, but also the use of green +manures. Thus Cato wrote: + +"Take care to have your wheat weeded twice--with the hoe, and also +by hand." + +And again Cato wrote: + +"Wherein does a good system of agriculture consist? In the first +place, in thorough plowing; in the second place, in thorough +plowing; and, in the third place, in manuring." + +Varro, who lived at the same time as Cato, wrote as follows: + +"The land must rest every second year, or be sown with lighter kinds +of seeds, which prove less exhausting to the soil. A field is not +sown entirely for the crop which is to be obtained the same year, +but partly for the effect to be produced in the following; because +there are many plants which, when cut down and left on the land, +improve the soil. Thus lupines, for instance, are plowed into a poor +soil in lieu of manure. Horse manure is about the best suited for +meadow land, and so in general is that of beasts of burden fed on +barley; for manure made from this cereal makes the grass grow +luxuriantly." + +Virgil wrote in his _Georgics:_ + +"Still will the seeds, tho chosen with toilsome pains, Degenerate, +if man's industrious hand Cull not each year the largest and the +best." + +It was in 1859 that Baron von Liebig wrote as follows, regarding +these and similar _ancient _teachings: + +"All these rules had, as history tells us, only a temporary effect; +they hastened the decay of Roman agriculture; and the farmer +ultimately found that he had exhausted all his expedients to keep +his fields fruitful and reap remunerative crops from them. Even in +Columella's time, the produce of the land was only fourfold. It is +not the land itself that constitutes the farmer's wealth, but it is +in the constituents of the soil, which serve for the nutrition of +plants, that this wealth truly consists." + +Suppose, Mr. Hill, that a successful American farmer should tell you +that your bank account will actually increase if you will give from +three to five members of your family the privilege of writing checks +instead of following the single checking system. "But," you will +ask, "doesn't rotation produce a larger aggregate yield of crops +than the single crop system?" Certainly, and, likewise, a rotation +of the check book will produce a larger aggregate of the checks +written; but the ultimate effect on the bank deposit is the same as +on the natural deposit of plant food in the soil, and finally the +checks will not be honored. Indeed, it would be a fine sort of +perpetual motion if we could actually enrich the soil by the simple +rotation of crops, and thus make something out of nothing. + +Consider, for example, the common three-year rotation, corn, wheat, +and clover. A fifty-bushel crop of corn removes twelve pounds of +phosphorus from the soil; the twenty-five bushel wheat crop draws +out eight pounds; and then the two-ton crop of clover withdraws ten +pounds, making thirty pounds required for this simple rotation. The +most common type of land in St. Mary county, Maryland, after two +hundred years of farming, contains phosphorus enough in the soil for +five rotations of this simple sort. Mathematically that is all the +further traffic in rotations that soil can bear. Agriculturally that +soil has refused to bear any sort of traffic, whether single or in +rotations, and has been abandoned for farm use except where +fertilized. + +These crops would remove from the soil one hundred and twenty-four +pounds of nitrogen in the corn and wheat, and the roots and stubble +of the clover would contain forty pounds of nitrogen. Now, if the +soil furnishes seventy-six pounds of nitrogen to the corn crop and +forty-eight pounds to the wheat crop, will it furnish forty pounds +to the clover crop, or as much as remains in the roots and stubble? +If so, how does the rotation actually enrich the soil in nitrogen? + +You will be interested to know that there are many exact records of +the effect upon the soil of the rotation of crops. This particular +three-year rotation has been followed at the Ohio Agricultural +Experiment Station for thirteen years, and the average yield of +wheat has been, not twenty bushels, not sixteen bushels, but eleven +bushels per acre, where no plant food was applied; although where +farm manure was used the wheat yielded twenty bushels, and with +manure and fine-ground natural rock phosphate added the average +yield of wheat for the thirteen years has been more than twenty-six +bushels per acre. The corresponding yields for corn are thirty-two, +fifty-three and sixty-one bushels, and for clover they are one and +two-tenths, one and six-tenths and two and two-tenths tons of hay +per acre. + +You will wish to know also that the Ohio Station has conducted a +five-year rotation of corn, oats, wheat, clover, and timothy for the +last fifteen years, both with and without the application of +commercial plant food. As an average of the fifteen years the +unfertilized and fertilized tracts have produced, respectively: + +30 and 48 bushels of corn + +32 and 50 bushels of oats and 27 bushels of wheat .9 and 1.6 tons of +clover + +1.3 and 1.8 tons of timothy + +In 1908 the unfertilized land produced nine-tenths ton of clover, +while land treated with farm manure produced three and two-tenths +tons per acre. + +You will welcome the information that the average yield of wheat on +an Illinois experiment field down here in "Egypt," in a four-year +rotation, including both cowpeas and clover, has been eleven and +one-half bushels on unfertilized land, fourteen bushels where legume +crops have been plowed under, and twenty-seven bushels where +limestone and phosphorus have been added with the legume crops +turned under; and that the aggregate value of the four crops, corn, +oats, wheat, and clover, from another "Egyptian" farm, has been +$25.97 per acre on unfertilized land, and $54.24 where limestone and +phosphorus have been applied. + +In your very busy and very successful railroad experience, you may +have overlooked the reports of the Pennsylvania Agricultural +Experiment Station, showing the results of a four-year rotation of +crops that has been conducted with very great care for more than a +quarter of a century. These, you will agree, are exactly such +absolute data as we sorely need just now when facing the stupendous +problem of changing from an agricultural system whose equal has +never been known for rapidity of soil exhaustion to a system which +shall actually enrich the land. By averaging the results from the +first twelve years and also those from the second twelve years, in +this rotation of corn, oats, wheat, and hay (clover and timothy), we +find that the yields have decreased as follows: + +Corn decreased 34 per cent. + +Oats decreased 31 per cent. + +Wheat decreased 4 per cent. + +Hay decreased 29 per cent. + +Appalling, is it not? It is the best information America affords in +answer to the question, Will the rotation of crops actually enrich +the land? + +No, Sir. We cannot make crops nor bank accounts out of nothing. The +rotation of crops does not enrich the soil, does not even maintain +the fertility of the soil. On the contrary, the rotation of crops, +like the rotation of your check book, actually depletes the soil +more rapidly than the single system; and, if you ever have your +choice between two farms of equal original fertility, one of which +has been cropped with wheat only, and the other with a good three or +five-year rotation, for fifty years, take my advice and choose the +"worn-out" wheat farm. Then adopt a good system of cropping with a +moderate use of clover, and you will soon discover that your land is +not worn out, but "almos' new lan" as a good Swede friend of mine +reported who made a similar choice. But beware of the land that has +been truly worn out under a good rotation, which avoids the insects +and diseases of the single crop system, and also furnishes regularly +a moderate amount of clover roots which decay very rapidly and thus +stimulate the decomposition of the old humus and the liberation of +mineral plant food from the soil. + +Perhaps you have heard of Rothamsted. If not, your kindergarten +teacher is at fault. A four-year rotation of crops has been followed +on Agdell field for more than sixty years. An average of the crop +yields of the last twenty years reveals: + +(1) That the yield of turnips has decreased from ten tons to +one-half ton per acre since 1848. + +(2) That the yield of barley has decreased from forty-six bushels to +fourteen bushels since 1849. + +(3) That the yield of clover has decreased from two and eight-tenth +tons to one-half ton since 1850. + +(4) That the yield of wheat has decreased from thirty bushels to +twenty-four bushels since 1851, wheat, grown once in four years, +being the only crop worth raising as an average of the last twenty +years. + +No, Sir. Neither optimism, nor ignorance, nor bigotry, nor deception +can controvert these facts. + +Do you know that the people of India rotate their crops? They do; +and they use many legumes; and some of their soils now contain only +a trace of phosphorus, too small to be determined in figures by the +chemist. Do you know there are more of our own Aryan Race hungry in +India than live in the United States? + +Do you know that Russia regularly practices a three-year rotation +and actually harvests only two crops in three years, with one year +of green manuring? Yes, and the average yield of wheat for twenty +years is only eight and one-quarter bushels per acre. + +Think on these things. + +Your _third principle _is, that "of all forage fed to live stock at +least one-third in cash value remains on the land in the form of +manure that soon restores worn-out soil to fertility and keeps good +land from deteriorating. By this system the farm may be made and +kept a source of perpetual wealth." + +I grieve with you; pity 'tis, 'tis not true. + +No, Sir. Neither crops nor animals can be made out of nothing, and +no independent system of livestock farming can add to the soil a +pound of any element of plant food, aside from nitrogen, and even +this addition is due to the legume crops grown and not to the live +stock. + +Under the best system of live-stock farming about three-fourths of +the nitrogen, three-fourths of the phosphorus, and one-third of the +organic matter contained in the food consumed can be returned to the +land if the total excrements, both solid and liquid, are saved +without loss. Of course, the produce used for bedding can all be +returned, but it could also be returned without live stock. + +Under a good system of crop rotation with all grain sold from the +farm it is possible to return to the soil more than one-third of the +phosphorus and more than one-half of the organic matter contained in +the crops, and even as much nitrogen as all of the crops remove from +the land in the grain sold. Thus, with a four-year rotation of +wheat, corn, oats, and clover, and a catch crop of clover grown with +the wheat and turned under late the following spring for corn, we +may plow under three tons of clover containing one hundred and +twenty pounds of nitrogen, in return for the one hundred and +nineteen pounds removed from the soil for the twenty-five bushels of +wheat, fifty bushels of corn, and fifty bushels of oats. These +amounts of grain and the two bushels of clover seed might be sold +from the farm, while the two and one-half tons of straw, one and +one-half tons of stalks, and three tons of clover might be returned +to the land. These amounts aggregate seven tons of organic matter, +or the equivalent of seventeen tons of manure, measured by the +nitrogen content, or of twenty-four tons, measured by the content of +organic matter. To replace the twenty-two pounds of phosphorus sold +from the farm in the grain of these four crops would require the +expenditure of sixty-six cents at the present prices for raw +phosphate delivered at Heart-of-Egypt. + +I have no doubt you will be glad to have your attention called to +the fact that the world does not live wholly, or even largely, upon +meat and milk. Bread is the staff of life, and I note from your +_World's Work _article that you prefer to have the bread made of +wheat. Thus, most farmers must raise and sell grain and vegetables. + +If no independent system of live-stock farming can add a pound of +phosphorus to the one hundred and sixty pounds still remaining in +the great body of the level uplands constituting forty-one per cent. +of St. Mary county, and forty-five thousand seven hundred and +seventy acres of Prince George county, Maryland, adjoining the +District of Columbia, nor even maintain the phosphorus supply in our +good lands, then what must we do to be fed? + +Manifestly, we should make large use of legume crops for the +production of farm manure or green manure; and, manifestly, America +should stop selling every year for five million dollars enough raw +phosphate for the production of more than a billion dollars' worth +of wheat. How long can we afford to give away a thousand millions +for five millions? + +Our annual corn crop is nearly three billion bushels, while the +estimated value of all the timber on the still remaining federal +lands is only one billion dollars. Again, our three trillion tons of +coal is sufficient for an annual consumption of half a billion tons +for six thousands years, whereas the United States Geological Survey +has estimated that at the present rate of increase in mining and +exportation our total supply of high-grade phosphate will be +exhausted in fifty years. It seems to me that about ninety per cent. +of the talk about conservation of natural resources is directed +toward ten per cent. of the resources, when we remember the soil as +the foundation of all agriculture and all industry. + +Do you know, Mr. Hill, that, at the Second Conservation Conference +called by the President of the United States, Doctor Van Hise, of +the University of Wisconsin, was the only man to raise his voice in +the interests of the common soils of America? For three days the +statesman and experts discussed the forests, forests, forests, and +the waters, waters, and the coal and iron; and for fifteen minutes +President Van Hise pleaded for the conservation of phosphate, _the +master key to all our material prosperity; _and he was called a +crank with a hobby. + +With deep respect, I am, + +Very sincerely yours, + +PERCY JOHNSTON + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +ADVANCE INFORMATION + + + + + +HEART-OF-EGYPT, November 14, 1909. + +DEAR father and mother: I can scarcely realize that I have been an +"Egyptian" for almost two years. I feel that the time has been +shorter than two months of school-teaching. + +Percy is so encouraged with the crops that I rejoice with him, +although I could never weep with him unless I weep for joy. He says +the crops needed only that I should stroll over the fields with him; +that they would grow rapidly if I only looked at them. Think of +it--I drove the mower to cut hay,--not all of the 80 acres, to be +sure, but I cut where it yielded two tons per acre. That is on No. +4, where Percy applied his first cars of limestone. I wish you could +have seen the untreated strips--no clover and only half a ton of +weedy timothy, while the rest of No. 4 and No. 6 were clean hay of +mixed alsike and timothy. Percy says that No. 4 produced as much +real hay last year as all the rest of the farm has produced since he +came, and that the hay crop this year is worth as much for feed as +all that has been harvested during the previous five years; and the +cattle and horses seem to agree with him. + +We sold our main lot of hogs for $654, and have another lot to go +later. We are getting so many horses and cattle on the place, that +we are going out of the hog business. + +Percy says that hogs belong more properly in the corn belt, than in +the wheat and fruit belt. You know the year I came the corn crop was +on No. I, which had never grown anything but corn, oats, and wheat, +so far as we can learn; and the corn was so poor the hogs ate most +of it in two months' time. During the same two months the price of +hogs dropped from 7 to 4-1/2 cents, so that the hogs were worth no +more after eating the corn crop than they were before. + +Next year we are to have corn on No. 4, and Percy says it will be +the first time that corn has had a "ghost of a show to make a decent +crop" since he bought the place. The spring before we were married +he reseeded that forty, sowing mixed alsike and timothy. The clover +came on finely, evidently because the scanty growth of clover the +year before had at least allowed the field to become thoroughly +infected with the clover bacteria. There was no clover on the +unlimed strip. So we say that limestone and bacteria brought clover. +The hay and other feed has made manure enough so that No. 4 has been +completely covered with six tons per acre, and the phosphate has +also been applied; so with manure and phosphate on clover ground we +hope to grow corn next year, if we have good weather. + +The phosphate has also been put on some of the other forties. I +convinced him that the money will pay a higher rate of interest in +phosphate than it would in the savings bank, even if he put it on +before manure and clover could be plowed under. The experiments of +several states show this very conclusively. + +The corn is on No. 3 this year and it is the best crop in the six +years. Percy says the "Terry Act" (which means lots of work in +preparing the land) is some help, but he thinks the phosphate shows +against the check strips. The young wheat on No. 2 is looking fine, +and with both limestone and phosphate on that field and the extra +work on the seed bed, we hope for a better crop than we have ever +grown on a full forty; even though we must depend solely upon our +reserve stock of nitrogen for the crop. We are all about as jealous +of that reserve stock of organic matter and nitrogen as we are of +the Winterbine bank account. + +I cannot forget how Percy tried to persuade me to postpone our +wedding for a year because, as he said, the hogs had taken his corn +crop and given nothing in return for it; and above all how he +objected to my reimbursing the Winterbine reserve from my teacher's +wages to the extent of $250, which he had drawn in part to tide over +the hard times, and in part to come to see me that Easter. But I am +glad to have him still insist upon it that that uncertain venture +proved his best investment, even if he does tease by adding that it +paid one hundred and fifty per cent. net profit at Winterbine. + +We are selling some cows this fall,--trying to weed out our herd by +the Babcock test which shows that "some cows don't pay their board +and keep," to quote Governor Hoard's lecture on "Cows versus Cows," +which Percy heard at Olney the winter Professor Barstow was married. +The "versus cows" are worth only $45. + +I cannot tell you how I have enjoyed the summer. Sir Charles Henry +is the dearest child, and his grandmother insists upon it that it is +better for me to help Percy in the field with such light work as I +can do, and I am out for a few hours every day when the weather is +good. Percy's mother is such a dear. I am sure she could be no more +sweet and loving to an own daughter. She had Percy all to herself +for so long that I was really afraid she might not like to share him +with me, but Percy says that it was his mother who persuaded him to +make us that Easter visit. We tell her that she hasn't much use for +either of us now, and that we are likely to get jealous because +Charles Henry gets so much of her affection. + +I forgot to tell you of Percy's four-acre patch of wheat. He said it +is so long to wait till 1912 for his first wheat crop on land that +had grown clover at least once during historic times that he thought +he would fix up a little patch to grow a crop of wheat, just to see +how real wheat would look; or, as he sometimes says, to see how +wheat grows in "Egypt" when it has a ghost of a chance. + +He treated a four-acre patch down by the wood's pasture with +limestone, phosphorus, and farm manure, did the "Terry Act" in +preparing the seed bed, and drilled in a good variety of wheat, on +October 17,--a little later than he likes to finish sowing wheat. It +came up with a good stand but did not make very much fall growth, +partly owing to the dry weather. In the spring the man came across +the patch and reported to Percy that the wheat was mighty small and +he guessed it was "gone up," although it seemed to be all alive. +Percy said that he would not worry about it if it were alive because +the wheat would find something to please it when it really woke up +in the spring. I reckon it did, for a neighbor passed on his way to +town in early May and called over the fence to Percy that his patch +of rye down by the woods was looking fine. Well the four acres +yielded 129-1/2 bushels, or a little more than thirty-two bushels +per acre. Percy said if he could have eighty acres of it and sell it +for $1.18 a bushel, the same as he got for the last he sold, it +would amount to twice the original cost of the land--and then some. + +Mr. Barton asked him if he could not raise "just as good crops with +good old farm manure," and if he could not build up his whole farm +with farm manure. Percy said yes, but he would need three thousand +tons for the first application. Mr. Barton then suggested that that +was more than the whole township produced. + +No. 5 has been in pasture for three years, clover and grass having +been seeded in 1906, even though the wet weather had prevented the +seeding of wheat the fall before, and the ground was left too rough +for the mower. Percy hopes to have that forty completely covered +with manure by the time he will be ready to apply the phosphate and +plow it under for the 19 I I corn crop. + +Now your "Egyptian" son has just read over this long, long letter, +and he says that if I were a real wise old farmer I would not begin +to talk about results before a single forty acres of grain had had a +ghost of a chance to make a crop. He says that every bushel of corn, +oats, and wheat that this old farm has produced during the last six +years has been wholly at the expense of the meager stock of reserve +nitrogen still left in the soil after seventy-five years of almost +continuous effort to "work the land for all that's in it" He says +that we have no right to expect really good crops until after the +second rotation is completed, because the clover grown during the +first rotation does not have a fair show, the limestone not yet +being well mixed with the soil, the phosphorus supply being +inadequate, the inoculation or infection being imperfect, and no +provision whatever having been made to supply decaying organic +matter in advance of the first clover crop. I think he is right as +usual and I promise to give no more advance information hereafter +except upon inquiry, at least not until 1918, when the first wheat +crop will be grown on land which has been twice in clover. We are +mighty sorry not to be able to be with you for Thanksgiving or +Christmas, but really we cannot go to the expense; our house is so +small (we just must build a larger barn) and our home equipment is +so meager that, in the words which you will remember Percy told us +his mother credited to Mrs. Barton, I feel that as yet I must say, + +"Do come over when you can." + +Your happy, loving daughter, + +ADELAIDE. + +P.S.--Three big oil wells, belonging to the class called "gushers," +have been struck about seven or eight miles from Poorland Farm. We +are all getting interested except Percy. He says he does not want +any oil wells on his six rotation forties or in the wood's pasture, +but he might let them bore in the twelve-acre orchard, which has +never produced but one crop that paid for itself, and the profit +from that is about all gone for the later years of spraying. + +The first oil boom in Illinois was at Casey where they struck oil +six or eight years ago, but they say the wells there are dry already +and they have to go back to farming again to get a living. Of course +if we could get a hundred-barrel well on every ten acres and get a +royalty of $400 a day for a few years, it would help out nicely, but +the oil business is uncertain and short-lived, whereas, to quote +Percy "the soil is the breast of Mother Earth, from which her +children must always draw their nourishment." + +Some have spoken to Percy about the coal right, but he says if there +are ten thousand tons of coal per acre under Poorland Farm, he will +save it for Charles Henry before he will allow anyone else to take +it out for less than ten cents a ton. He says that just because the +United States Government was generous enough to give the settler +three hundred and twenty acres of land, and foolish enough to throw +in with it three million tons of coal if it happened to lie beneath, +is no reason why he should sell it to any coal company or coal trust +at the rate of ten tons for one cent, which is the same as ten +dollars per acre for the coal right. He says if Uncle Sam ever wants +to assume his rightful ownership of all coal, phosphate deposits, or +other minerals whose conservation and proper use is essential to the +continued prosperity of all the people, then our coal shall be his; +but, if he does not want it then he will consider nothing less than +leasing on the basis of a royalty of ten cents a ton to be paid to +him, his heirs, and assigns, etc.; but even then he wants enough +coal left to hold up the earth, so that there will be no +interference with the tile drains which he expects sometime to put +down at an expense exceeding the original cost of the land. With +much love, + +ADELAIDE. + +P.S.--Percy sends his love to grandma and a photograph for Papa, +from which you will see that on such land as ours no limestone or +phosphate means no clover.--A. W. J. + +The author takes this occasion to say to the kind reader who has had +the patience and the necessary interest in the stupendous problem +now confronting the American people, of devising and adopting into +general practice independence systems of farming that will restore, +increase, and permanently maintain the productive power of American +farm lands,--to those who have read thus far the _Story of the Soil +_and who may have some desire for more specific and more complete or +comprehensive information upon the subject,--to all such he takes +this occasion to say that this volume is based scientifically upon +"Soil Fertility and Permanent Agriculture." + +This little book is intended as an introduction to the subject; the +other may be classed as technical, but nevertheless can be +understood by any one who gives it serious thought. This book tells +the true story of the soil, for which the other gives a thousand +proofs. + +Grateful acknowledgment is here expressed that even the measure of +success thus far attained on Poorland Farm has been possible largely +through the co-operation of a beloved brother, Carl Edwin, the man +who does a world of work, ably assisted by "Adelaide." + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Story of the Soil, by Cyril G. 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