CORNETvL READING-COURSE 

 FOR FARMERS. 



L.i iiKAKV 

 N ^ 

 BO! 



The Soil : What it Is. 



1. The basis of soil is fragments of rock. — As the earth cooled, 

 the surface solidified into rock. The processes of nature have 

 been constantly at work in breaking up this rock and making it 

 into soil. 



2. Weathering is the great agency in making rocks into soil. — 

 Rain, snow, ice. frost have worn away the mountains and 

 deposited the fragments as soil. Probably as much material 

 has been worn away from the Alps as still remains, and this 

 material now forms much of the soil of Itah', Germany, France, 

 Holland. Our own mountains and hills have worn away in like 

 manner. 



3. Weatherhig is still active. — All exposed rocks are wearing 

 away. Stones are growing smaller The soil is pulverized by 

 fall plowing. 



4. The particles of soil are worn and transported by water. — 

 Every stream carries away great quantities of soil and deposits 

 it in the shallows and the bays. After every rain, the streams 

 and ponds are muddy or roily. Observe the sediment or fine 

 mud which remains when a "mud-puddle" dries up. The 

 smallest rivulet carries away tons of earth every year ; and this 

 earth is deposited somewhere, and sometime it may, perhaps, 

 come into use again for the growing of plants. Many of our 

 best and richest farm lands are the deposits of former streams 

 and lakes. Such lands are fine and silt-like. Most lowlands 

 belong to this category ; and even some of our higher lands are 

 formed from deposits from water. The mixed and varied charac- 

 ter of soils is largely due to the fact that they are the results of 

 transportation from different places. 



