THE SOIL. 



15 



can scarcely be overestimated. One can see the 

 effects of it by the roadside, beside the small 

 rivulets and streams, in the garden and yard, 

 and in the fields. It is the force that cuts down 

 the hills and spreads them out into level plains. 



SOIL-WEARING ALONG THE ROADSIDE. 



It takes hold of everything it can grasp and 

 carries it from one place to another. A strip 

 of plowed soil several inches deep may be 

 washed by a heavy rain to a lower level on the 

 opposite side of a wide field, or even into an 



