80 TALKS ABOUT THE SOIL. 



wealth left by Nature for our use, but that it can be 

 improved by the wise use of knowledge, and that the 

 study of these things is well worth all our time and 

 labor. It is more like a bank than a storehouse, 

 because we can add to it as well as take away from it. 



Secondly, we observe that in turning over the sod 

 with a plough, a part of the soil that was below is now 

 on top. We have seen that the soil is composed, in 

 large part, of the remains of old rocks. There is in 

 every soil more or less sand. This old granulated 

 rock can be affected by the frost, the sun, the rain, 

 to-day, precisely as in the old past when it was broken 

 from some ancient cliffs. The work we saw going on 

 at Schunemunk is going on everywhere in the soil. 

 The plough turns up the soil, and brings the particles 

 of rock we call sand to the surface, and it is again 

 broken up finer still. The elements are released by 

 the frost and rain, and made ready to enter into new 

 combinations. The greedy oxygen attacks it, and 

 forms new compounds ready to be used by new plants. 

 Thus the mere turning-over of the soil is a benefit by 

 bringing new particles of rock to the influence of the 

 weather. 



Finally, observe how loose and broken the plough 

 has left the soil. In this soft mould, the roots of the 

 new plants can push their way in eager search of 

 the new food just formed from the dead plants, or set 

 free from the decaying sands and clays. 



This is the first great step in the improvement of a 

 soil, and it is given the general name of tillage. At 



