IO TALKS ABOUT THE SOIL. 



a cliff, then the edge of the coal-seam may crop out 

 somewhere far up the mountain-side, from whence 

 these stray bits of coal rolled down. If the man is 

 looking for potters' clay, he studies the low places to 

 see where the water has collected in muddy pools ; 

 after the rain-water has dried from the pools and shal- 

 lows, he sees the grqund has cracked into irregular 

 fissures. The man looking for fine white sand for 

 making glass examines the road-sides, and exposed 

 places along the railroad-cuttings, for traces of sand- 

 heaps. All these are marks or indications on the sur- 

 face, giving hints of what may be found beneath the 

 ground. We, in like manner, are prospecting for good 

 soils ; and we must first of all look out for surface 

 indications. 



Let us understand the matter clearly. Everywhere 

 beneath the ground is solid rock continuous around 

 the entire world. If the ground were everywhere level, 

 as in some of our Western States, we might never 

 know this till we came to dig down through the soil 

 in search of coal or metals. Very likely, if the whole 

 world were level, we might never have heard of these 

 things. Fortunately the ground is not everywhere 

 level. In many places the surface is crumpled up into 

 ridges and knobs, so that the rocks with all their 

 metals, coal, and 'mineral wealth, are in sight and 

 often in easy reach. These raised places are the hills 

 and mountains, and they form our first surface indica- 

 tions. 



What is the character of the country about your 



