268 THE FARMER OF TO-MORROW 



The opponents of the theory of "immutable 

 assets" assert that the soils of the Far East 

 have held up under the tremendous strain put 

 upon them because of the most careful system 

 for the conservation of waste practiced by 

 these people. Yet, in four thousand years the 

 soils of China have produced a population 

 mounting in the billions. Were the biblical 

 injunction of "dust to dust, ashes to ashes" 

 an actuality, then the earth would lose nothing 

 because that which was earth would return to 

 earth. The Chinese construct elaborate tombs 

 for the preservation of their dead. Their re- 

 ligion teaches them not to violate with the 

 plow-share the earth housing the bones of their 

 ancestors; indeed, in some provinces in China 

 the land occupied by tombs is more than one- 

 half of the total. 



China has always been an exporting nation. 

 Of the three nations, China, Corea and Japan, 

 only Japan has come in recent years to use 

 chemicals as fertilizers, and she only in an 

 experimental way. Why do these historic 

 soils give no evidence of wearing out? The 

 question cannot be answered by the "Theory 

 of Mineral Requirements of Plants." 



Right here at home we have only recently 



