"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.