CHAPTER II 



THE SECRET OF THE SOIL 



place, which we call "Felsen- 

 garten" (The Garden of Rocks), stands 

 or rather hangs suspended halfway 'twixt 

 heaven and earth on the southern slope 

 of a New Hampshire mountain. Below 

 us, over an ocean of green tree-tops, we 

 look up and down the valleys of the Gale 

 and Landaff rivers, and beyond the gorges 

 where flow these impetuous streams, the 

 eye climbs up and up the bold slopes of 

 the Franconia Mountains, and passes at 

 length above the limit of vegetation to 

 the climax of the picture on the granite 

 summit of Mt. Lafayette. Nowhere in 

 America, I think, can there be found a 

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