AGRICULTURE FOR COMMON 

 SCHOOLS 



SECTION I— SOILS 



CHAPTER I 

 THE ORIGIN OF THE SOIL 



In a study of agriculture the soil should first claim our 

 attention. It is the foundation of all our study. Should we 

 study farm crops we need to know what kind of soil is suited 

 to each and how it should be handled to get good results. 

 When we study the growing of fruits and vegetables we are 

 interested in knowing, first of all, what kind of soil is best for 

 each. In dealing with animals we are concerned about their 

 food and that brings us back to the soil in which the plants 

 producing the food were raised. 



Making Soil. — 1. Weathering. — We have learned from 



our geographies that at one time early in the history of the 



Earth it was a mass of melted matter. After a time it 



began to cool, and the outside of the ball hardened into 



rock. The seasons kept on changing, the rain descended 



and the temperature varied from time to time. The changes 



were rriore than the solid rock could stand and it began to 



crumble. Soil was formed. The action of the air and the 



weather upon the earth crust is called weathering. The 



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