III. 



SOIL-MAKERS 



Standing before some bare expanse of hard rock, we 

 might well wonder, if we knew nothing of the subject, 

 how it should ever be converted into a surface fit for 

 the support of vegetation. There may be vineyards 

 close by showing that it has been done in other 

 instances ; but what is to be the first step ? 



Ploughs, even steam ploughs, are quite useless here, 

 and man must wait until the work is done for him, as it 

 will be, and very thoroughly, too, in the end ; but it 

 will be done deliberately, without hurry or bustle, 

 and it may take years or centuries. Meanwhile, it is of 

 no use for him to look with longing eyes upon the 

 rock ; he can't plough it, and he would be mad to sow 

 it, for any seed he could sow would be washed or blown 

 away. 



And yet if he were to look closely at the seemingly 

 bare surface, he might, and in most cases would, find 

 that it was not altogether bare and barren. He might 

 need a microscope to show him the truth, but if he 

 understood what he saw, he would discover that the 

 rock had been sown. 



The pioneer labourers, far from finishing, have 

 hardly begun their work here, but seed has been 



