Word: soiling
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...Elastic Soil. Real scientists take a dim view of Road to Survival. Here & there, they admit, among Vogt's errors, prejudices, mysticism and reckless appeals to emotion, they can find iotas of truth-but not many. From the verbiage of Vogt and his fellows, three central ideas about soil can be winnowed. All of these ideas are wrong, and the scientists knock them down easily...
First is the notion that "soil cannot be stretched," that each acre has a certain production capacity (Vogt calls it "biotic potential") which cannot be boosted without dire peril. This is the same fallacy that expresses itself in the old saying, "There are only so many slices in the cake." Some businessmen say this when they decide that their markets cannot be expanded and, therefore, should be divided among them in quotas set by their cartel. Some labor unions decide that there are only so many jobs to be divided, and therefore oppose labor-saving devices...
...soil scientists say that it simply is not true that land is static. Virgin soils vary widely in fertility and character, but once under cultivation they are subject to the will of modern...
...Soils are made of mineral particles mixed with organic matter and crawling with living organisms, from bacteria to woodchucks. These living things, especially the plants, have more influence on the character of the soil than does the rock or other material out of which the soil was formed. Generally a soil on which a certain kind of vegetation has been growing for a long time develops characteristics which are specially favorable to that sort of plant...
Plant-Formed Soil. The prize virgin soils of temperate regions are the chernozems.* They develop in dryish regions like Iowa and the Ukraine, where the climate naturally favors the growth of tall grasses. The grasses deposit a great deal of organic material in the soil, forming a dark brown, almost black layer a foot or more deep. This (and the slight rainfall) keeps soluble nutrients from leaching away...