produces an acid condition which ig 
detrimental to plant life. Back to 
nature. She never does any plowing, 
but keeps the organic matter on top 
or near the surface. Humus keeps 
the soil moist by causing it to retain 
more of the rainfall and also pre- 
vents rapid evaporation. A neighbor 
had a forest of large beautiful trees, 
and he thought he would improve it 
by cutting out the undergrowth and 
sowing it to grass for pasture. This 
allowed the leaves to blow into the 
ravines and a few dry seasons killed 
all his trees. 
The decaying of organic matter 
dissolves chemical elements of the 
soil and renders them available to 
the plant. In a very limited way 
plants have the power to dissolve 
these elements themselves, but not 
to the extent of producing a good 
crop. Most virgin soils contain all 
the chemical elements neccessary to 
the growth of food plants, but when 
man has misused it for years these 
elements are either lost or are in- 
- goluble. The value of keeping the 
soil covered and mused with organic 
