CHAPTER EIGHT 



THE SOIL — THE MOST IMPORTANT GIFT OF NATURE 



An ancient story tells us that men were made from the 

 dust of the earth. This dust under our feet, which soils 

 our shoes, this dust which the wind sometimes sweeps along 

 in blinding clouds, is indeed precious. The delicate tissues 

 of our bodies are made from the food we eat. If it be plant 

 food, it comes directly from the soil. If it be meat or eggs 

 or milk, it comes from animals which live upon the plants, 

 that in turn got their nourishment from the soil. 



This soft, dark substance which covers the rocky skeleton 

 of the earth we call the soil. How common and cheap it 

 looks when it is placed by the side of a piece of gold ! But 

 how much more wonderful it would seem if we could know 

 all about it. The soil is far more necessary to our comfort 

 and prosperity than gold. Gold, silver, or precious stones 

 cannot keep us alive. They are of little worth to us com- 

 pared with food and clothing. The soil, then, is the real 

 wealth of the world. The farmer, who tills the soil, is the 

 one worker we could not possibly do without. All the 

 wealth of the world, all the comforts which we have, all the 

 luxuries brought from far corners of the earth, come in the 

 first place from the soil. 



We do not have to journey far over the earth to learn 

 that there are many lands where the fields are not fruitful, 

 and yet such lands are often rich and prosperous. How 

 can this be if the soil is so necessary ? Let us go to New 

 England and ask the people Uving there if they can tell us 

 why rich people sometimes inhabit lands which do not raise 

 enough for them to eat. 



SI 



