The Story -Book of the Fields 



able it cannot fail to do well in this ground 

 overflowing with food. It will select that 

 which suits it best, and will leave the rest. 



It is done. The harvest has been gathered 

 and abundantly satisfies our hopes. The 

 wheat has converted the manure deposited 

 in the ground into splendid grain ; it has 

 made food out of corruption. It has done 

 its work well and made a clear sweep. It 

 has appropriated everything that could be 

 turned into wheat, leaving nothing behind. 

 What would happen then if we were to sow 

 wheat again in the same field ? Just what 

 would happen to Tom if he had nothing to 

 eat but the bone left by Jim. He would 

 die of hunger. Tom requires the food of 

 man, and wheat must have the food of wheat. 

 If the first harvest has exhausted all the 

 wheat-forming materials in the ground, how 

 can a second crop of wheat be produced ? 

 It would be impossible, and we should have 

 either a very poor harvest or none at all. 

 Therefore wheat must not be sown twice 

 running in the same field, and the same thing 

 is true of other crops. Where any plant has 

 done well in one year the same plant will 

 not do well in the next, because the sub- 

 stances that suit this plant will be more or 



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