Methods of conserving soil-fertility
In view of the comparatively small annual crops that characterize
dry-farming it is not wholly impossible that the factors above
discussed, if properly applied, could liberate the latent plant-food
of the soil and gather all necessary nitrogen for the plants. Such
an equilibrium, could it once be established, would possibly
continue for long periods of time, but in the end would no doubt
lead to disaster; for, unless the very cornerstone of modern
agricultural science is unsound, there will be ultimately a
diminution of crop producing power if continuous cropping is
practiced without returning to the soil a goodly portion of the
elements of soil fertility taken from it. The real purpose of modern
agricultural researeh is to maintain or increase the productivity of
our lands; if this cannot be done, modern agriculture is essentially
a failure. Dry-farming, as the newest and probably in the future one
of the greatest divisions of modern agriculture, must from the
beginning seek and apply processes that will insure steadiness in
the productive power of its lands.
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