THE EARTH'S BOUNTY 



to the lower depth, from where it can as easily 

 ascend in times of drought. 



Deep plowing, such as we used, on the clayey 

 soil, would have destroyed the pan, and been as 

 disastrous as not demolishing it in the heavy 

 soil. Using a bould mold-board, turned the 

 furrow almost completely over, carrying what 

 old root growth there was on the surface down 

 to the pan, or subsoil, where moisture aided its 

 disintegration. The disk harrow and roller 

 pulverized and compressed the coarse grains 

 of earth into a less leachable condition. 



As far as the texture of the soil was con- 

 cerned, the two fields were diametrically op- 

 posite; but going further into the question of 

 appropriate soil for crops proved that both 

 were woefully deficient in humus, one of the 

 most vital requisites. 



Webster's definition of humus is " animal 

 and vegetable mold " ; which explains the worst 

 feature of incompetent farming more correctly 

 than dozens of learned dissertations. 



Under natural conditions, plants and trees 



59 



