Sacredness Of The Soil To Be Observed Nationally, ay 2 Two years ago, Farm and Ranch inaugurated a movement designated as "Soil and Soul Sunday." It was then, and is now, our belief that there is a definite relation between the soil and Christianity; that the preservation of the soil and the restoring of its fertility is a religious re-ligious duty and,- therefore, has J a place in the programs of churches throughout- the land. The response was far more generous gen-erous than was expected. More than 500 ministers from Hawaii to the Atlantic devoted sermons to the subject of man's responsibility responsi-bility as a steward of the soil. The second year the response was even more encouraging. The movement received cooperation of the Soil Conservation Service, the Governors of Texas and Oklahoma, Ok-lahoma, and the National Grange. The latter organization passed a resolution asking the President to proclaim Soil and Soul Sunday Sun-day a National event. This year, the Friends of the Land is an added supporter of the movement. It will promote Soil Conservation week with Sunday, May 2 designated as Soil and Soul Sunday. With this added support, the movement will spread throughout the courf-try. courf-try. Ministers will be encouraged to speak to their congregations on the importance of the soil in its relationship to the Christian religion. Many organizations will participate. The purpose is to help people, both in city and country, to develop not only a greater appreciation of good soil from an economic standpoint, but to realize more .fully their moral responsibility In maintaining maintain-ing its fertility. Ministers will not have to go outside of the Bible to select a text. The ownership of tie land is definitely fixed by the Bible in that sentence which reads: "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." ' In numerous other instances the Bible makes reference to the soil, its sacredness sacred-ness and our responsibility as stewards. I Believing that it is a Christian duty to preserve and care for the soil, Farm and Ranch, after interviewing a number of minis-, ters, decided to continue its efforts ef-forts to widen the scope of the movement through greater interest inter-est in urban, as well as rural, congregations. ' The soil is everybody's respon-I respon-I sibility.