CHAPTER IL 

 SOILS. 



The soil, one of the essentials to the existence and 

 well-being of the human race, is one of the most com- 

 plex products of nature. With all the acquirements of 

 which man can boast he cannot create a pound of soil, 

 understand the intricacies of its composition, nor yet 

 avail himself fully of the wealth locked up within this 

 most familiar of all natural objects. Nature has ap- 

 parently brought out the choicest selections from her 

 storehouse and placed them at the service of man in 

 the form commonly known as soil. Its varieties are 

 unnumbered, its capabilities unmeasured, and its adapt- 

 ability to supply the needs of man only partially under- 

 stood. 



Origin of Soils. — Soils are broken and decomposed 

 rocks. Before the external forces of nature acted upon 

 them they were as barren and useless as the clean 

 peaks of the mountains or the washed rock in the bed 

 of the stream. Many of the changes to which the 

 original rocks were subjected in bringing them into the 

 new and useful combination are unknown, but the gen- 

 eral process can be quite accurately understood from 

 examp)., which may be witnessed in na-re by any 

 interested observer. 



The mosses which are found on the rocks are a low 



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