THE FARM A WORKSHOP 197 



practice what they learned, they would be carrying out a 

 system of work which is unequaled in -its opportunities for 

 original research, and in which experiments show results very 

 quickly in every line of action. All growth is dependent 

 upon the soil; therefore we shall begin with this part and 

 carry the study through a consideration of plants to animal life. 

 Soil is made by two general agents: those which have no 

 life, which we call the inorganic, under which come water, 

 air, and winds; the others organic, including microorganisms, 

 and larger plants and animals. We are not likely to appre- 

 ciate fully the amount of work that is being done to improve 

 our soil, but rather to think only of the damage done to a few 

 of our plants by the same agents. See Section 131, Disin- 

 tegration due to Plant and Animal Life. 



References : 



1. 1205 : 19-22. The Soil and its Production. 



2. 1304 : 338. Importance of Soil. 



3. 1503 : 91. Composition of Soil. 



4. 1601 : 31-36. Relation of the Soil to Organic Evolution. 



5. 1605 : 75-78. What Soil Is. 



a. 1202 : 345-349. The Chemical Nature of Soil. 



6. 1603 : 1-6. The Origin of the Soil. 



c. 1604 : 29-40. Soil Makers. 



d. 1606 : 17-22. How Soils are Made. 



e. 1607 : 49-52. Nature and Origin *of Soil. 

 /. 1608 : 16-18. The Sunlight. 



g. 1611 : 18-33. The Soil: How Made and from What. 

 h. 1612 : 23-32. What we Find in Soils. 



141. THE FARM A WORKSHOP 



The farm should be considered as a factory in which the 

 farm products are manufactured. It is just as impossible 

 in farming to get something for nothing as it is in any other 



