44 TALKS ABOUT THE SOIL. 



side, the lower part of the field will be richer in the 

 remains of plants and animals than the upper part. 



In a low field where water collects, we shall find 

 water-plants, cat's-tails, ferns, and cardinal-flowers ; 

 on the sandy hillsides, the blueberry and wild aster 

 and mullein-stalks. A bare and sandy plain, where no 

 plants can be found, will have a soil almost wholly 

 inorganic. A level meadow overrun with sphagnum 

 moss will have a pure organic soil. On the sandy 

 place we shall find the water disappear through the 

 soil the moment the rain ceases to fall : on a dark soil, 

 composed of organic remains, the water may remain 

 for weeks after a storm. 



For those who live on farms or near farm-lands, the 

 best plan in making these surface observations is to 

 select from different spots, in different directions from 

 the house, and to make notes of each place, the 

 position and color of the soil, and the amount of water 

 to be seen after a rain, and to make a sketch-map 

 of the places, and to decide from the observations 

 which soil is chiefly organic and which chiefly inor- 

 ganic, and to put all the data on the map. For those 

 who cannot do this, the best plan is to observe differ- 

 ent fields seen on walks and rides or from a car- 

 window, and to learn to decide on the character of a 

 soil from its surface indications by making repeated 

 practice observations. 



Having decided from these indications what is the 

 probable character of the soil of any particular field, 

 we can next take up some of the actual soil, and ex- 



