194 An American Fruit-Farm 



seemingly dead, yet rich in minerals, supports a 

 luxuriant plant life by the addition of vegetable 

 matter — that is, of decaying plant fiber or humus. 

 This is the sign of the right sort of soil: abundant 

 humus. It is the essential which no commercial 

 fertilizer can supply. Dead trees make living 

 trees possible. Dead plants are the bed of vege- 

 tation. Lose the himius from your soil and the 

 earth is no more productive than a pit filled with 

 iron filings. Therefore, fruit-grower, in all your 

 getting, get wisdom and understanding as the Book 

 of Books advises, but be sure also to get humus. 

 We know little of the secrets of plant life. We 

 cannot see the grass grow or hear the doors of the 

 flower open. Yet we know that soil devoid of 

 humus is inert. The two components of the per- 

 fect soil are vegetable and mineral; the vegetable 

 includes the animal, but never the mineral, though 

 mineral ingredients enter into every plant. Per- 

 haps we are merely using words without meaning, 

 but what we really try to say is that the elements 

 known in nature in part compose the fruitful soil; 

 that in one familiar form these elements are hiimus 

 to us; in another form, they are mineral. Which- 

 ever way the truth is expressed, we know that 

 when we attempt to raise fruit our soil must 

 be rich in himius, which to us, plain fruit-growers, 

 seems to be the decaying vegetable matter in the 

 earth. If abundant, this humus keeps the soil 

 moist, porous, chemically active, and productive. 

 If humus be lacking and the mineral ingredients 



