Abstract
RECENT inquiries have shown that the fertility of agricultural land in Europe has very materially increased owing to the use of commercial fertilisers and green manuring, but it has often been stated that this increase is effected at the expense of virgin lands. Mr. Coventry therefore instituted an inquiry in India to see if there is any evidence of a progressive decline in fertility there. The results are published in vol. vii. of The Agricultural Journal of India, and show that the average of productivity may have become lower, but this can be entirely explained by the fact that inferior lands have been taken into cultivation on account of the great agricultural prosperity and expansion brought about under British rule. When allowance is made for this it is seen that the fertility is not declining, but rather tends to increase.
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R., E. Recent Publications on the Fertility of the Soil . Nature 90, 473–474 (1912). https://doi.org/10.1038/090473a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/090473a0