MINE OF WEALTH

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 June 1939, Page 3

MINE OF WEALTH

SOIL & SOCIAL RECLAMATION. All forms of life require periods of rest to alternate with periods of activity, and this condition is of primary importance in the soil, which is the basic form of life, says Mr G. C. Watson in his book, “The Soil and Social 1 Reclamation.” Yet how many farmers are alive to this fact and give their often worn-out lands the rest of one year in seven? Only a few of the more enlightened. The soil is a mine of wealth; but how few know how to tap it! Just as in the human organism periods of rest and sleep are essential, during which the complex bio-chemi-cal changes take place, poisons are eliminated and disease-resisting qualities are built up, so it is with the soil. So long as this law of periodic rest is disregarded, so long will the evil consequences continue. The arable soil is the cradle of organic life. It contains a multitude of very complex organisms. In it, in embryo form, lies the stuff which makes or mars not only farmers but nations. The nature and functions of these myriads of organisms of infinite variety is practically a closed book; they all have their specific duties to perform, and their efficiency depends upon the right treatment they receive at the hands of the owner of the land they occupy. It is like the sealed engine of a Rolls-Royce car, the workings of which are unknown to the novice, but instructions are given for oiling and greasing, etc. If these instructions are not carried out, then the maker cannot be held responsible if the mechanism fails. There are many potent reasons underlying the law of fallowing the land, and it is no' more necessary for the farmer to understand them in detail than for the driver of a motor-car to understand its inner mechanism; all he need do is to follow the 'instructions.