36 TALKS ABOUT THE SOIL. 



CHAPTER III. 

 THE SOIL THE HOME OF THE PLANTS. 



Vin. ORGANIC AND INORGANIC. We go out 



in the garden, or upon the cultivated land of the farm. 

 If it is winter, the ground is hard and rough, or is 

 covered with snow. In the Southern States, or in all 

 the States in summer, we find the ground is soft and 

 loose. Unless covered with grass or other plants, it is 

 easy to dig a hole in the ground with a spade. Get a 

 spade or other tool, and try this. Dig directly down 

 into the ground. Observe what you find. At the 

 very top the loose earth is dark-colored. As we dig 

 deeper, the color, whether it be red, brown, yellow, 

 black, or gray, becomes of a lighter shade. The first 

 part or top, that is almost always of a darker color, 

 may be from six to ten inches deep. In some places, 

 as on the prairies and along river- bottoms, it may be 

 very much deeper. The lighter-colored part below 

 may be only a few inches deep, or several feet deep, 

 this varying greatly in different places. If we dig still 

 deeper, we come to sand, gravel, clay, or even rock. 

 Whatever we find within a few feet of the top, we 

 shall certainly find, somewhere below, the bed-rock 

 that forms the crust of the earth. This loose material 



