THE FARM A WORKSHOP 197 



practice what they learned, they would be carrying out a 

 system of work which is unequaled in its opportunities for 

 original research, and in which experiments show results very 

 quickly in every line of action. All growth is dependent 

 upon the soil; therefore we shall begin with this part and 

 carry the study through a consideration of plants to animal life. 

 Soil is made by two general agents: those which have no 

 life, which we call the inorganic, under which come water, 

 air, and winds; the others organic, including microorganisms, 

 and larger plants and animals. We are not likely to appre- 

 ciate fully the amount of work that is being done to improve 

 our soil, but rather to think only of the damage done to a few 

 of our plants by the same agents. See Section 131, Disin- 

 tegration due to Plant and Animal Life. 



References : 



1. 1205 : 19-22. The Soil and its Production. 



2. 1304 : 338. Importance of Soil. 



3. 1503 : 91. Composition of Soil. 



4. 1601 : 31-36. Relation of the Soil to Organic Evolution. 



5. 1605 : 75-78. What Soil Is. 



a. 1202 : 345-349. The Chemical Nature of Soil. 



6. 1603 : 1-6. The Origin of the Soil. 



c. 1604:29-40. Soil Makers. 



d. 1606 : 17-22. How Soils are Made. 



e. 1607 : 49-52. Nature and Origin of Soil. 

 /. 1608 : 16-18. The Sunlight. 



g. 1611 : 18-33. The Soil: How Made and from What. 

 h. 1612 : 23-32. What we Find in Soils. 



141. THE FARM A WORKSHOP 



The farm should be considered as a factory in which the 

 farm products are manufactured. It is just as impossible 

 in farming to get something for nothing as it is in any other 



