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

by Cyril G. Hopkins

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."