Show the land doctor uj vivian shearer all of the works of nature and natures workings make kiako us poor mortals sit back in wide eyed wonder when we consider them but the most wonderful ot natures Natu ies accomplishments Is tile the development of 0 the soil the soil Is the last touch that Is needed to make this old earth eaith habitable for mankind it Is a holy inheritance which mankind should possess and guard with understanding and skill and devotion in this soil building process tile the parents substance from which all finer materials la Is derived Is rock lock the rocks are aie broken down by physical and chemical wear and tear which Is known as weathering the particles become smaller and smaller until they range all the way from granular down to the finest colloidal particles and are graded into three classes depending upon the size of the particles these grades are known as sand salt and clay some of this weathered material remains in place where it was formed other portions are carried away by the wind and scattered over large areas or else piled up in hum hummocks or dunes still other portions are picked up by moving water and dropped at some distant point to form alluvial tans fans or flood plains but regardless of oc how it Is graded or how it happens liap pens to be deposited this weathered rock Is the base or parent ma terdal front from which nil soil Is de ve loped the next step in the soil building process Is tile the charging of this parent material with or ganic gallic life in other words it Is bot oll guptil it li be econies collies the home 0 of f living Y na organisms the first 1 life 1 te to appear in this raw parent material magerl a I 1 are the very ery simplest animal and plant ciaro organ isms iams these life forms forma increase In creasa and die and decay in ever eer inci easing creasing numbers near the surface of the ground their life functions and their physical remains supply tho the organic material and the biochemical actions that mark the beginning of soil growth As the soil becomes properly prepared by elemental life forms the highel forms of plants and animals appear and by their contribution further enrich the soil thus Is topsoil born As the topsoil develops the amount of 0 organic content increase it becomes more absorbent water percolating through the soil tends to carry the finer clay particles downward through the looser body of 0 the sop soll oid and to deposit them in the lower layer this as the development proceeds the topsoil becomes looser in texture and the su subsoil broll becomes tighter and more resistant to the easy movement of moisture through it this process continues until definite layers are developed these layers make up what Is known as the soil profile |