unfertile

1.We already possess, in the artesian well, the means of converting unfertile wastes into rich corn fields;and what unknown forces may not yet be hidden in the interior of the earth?

我们已靠了自流井把不毛之地变成膏壤，地质也许还有什么未知力量在潜伏中有待现，谁又断言呢？

2.A peasant may seem like the smartest man in the world by coaxing crops from unfertile ground, but he may appear like a perfect idiot when asked to cope with a complicated machine.

如果一个农民在并不肥沃的土地上把庄稼种好，那他就称得上是世界上最聪明的人。