322 



Adventures in Scenery 



Plant Food from Rocks 



"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from which my 

 strength cometh" sang the prophet. Lo! the strength of the 

 hills is seen in the luxurious fields of alfalfa, the gardens of 

 vegetables and flowers, the acres of oranges, dates, and palms 

 then across an enclosing fence or beyond a highway is the abject 

 desert. Yes, strength comes from the hills! From thence 

 comes the life-giving waters, and hence the gardens, the fruits, 



Courtesy U. S. Bureau of Soils 



FIG. 96. View on Tres Pinos Creek, San Benito County. Alluvial bot- 

 tom land. Apricot trees in foreground; alfalfa in centre; Diablo Range in 

 background. 



the flowers, the alfalfa. Were it not for the great geologic 

 forces by which the mountains were uplifted there would not 

 be the streams. Were it not for the long processes of erosion 

 and weathering of the rocks there had not been the soil in the 

 valleys and on the slopes. We bewail the deserts, the waste 

 land. Yet in the very conditions that have resulted in the soils 

 of the desert lies the secret of the great fertility of the soils. 

 The soils are decomposed rock. Rocks are composed of a great 

 variety of minerals. The minerals are composed of the chemi- 



