THE WIZARDRY OF THE SOIL 



similar tax on man, which he works out with 

 plow, harrow, hoe, and fertilizer, the shrewd 

 old enchantress not only keeps her soil light 

 and fertile, but lures mankind from the fatal 

 pitfalls of idleness. 



Yet is our brown mother not all fair, 

 though we have thus far spoken her fair, as 

 should all those who receive her rare boun- 

 ties. But, like human nature itself, mother 

 earth has many unregenerate streaks. 

 While in one man's field she "hears the 

 corn," as the prophet Hosea says the earth 

 will, in another field in a barren country she 

 is deaf not only to the corn, but to all 

 burgeoning desires whatsoever in everything 

 that would bloom and bring forth fruit. 

 Yet so exceptional is this apparent indiffer- 

 ence on the part of the good earth that one 

 is moved to put in a plea for the defendant 

 rather than to argue the case for the plaintiff. 



Is it, after all, not the fault of the heavens, 

 which do not "hear the earth" when it calls 

 for rain, as Hosea again prophesied that 

 they would? Or, if the earth may not be 

 exculpated on this plea, is not her barren- 



41 



