--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Harris, Franklin S. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 32 number: 10 published: 1929-08 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "Franklin S. Harris, “Lessons From Common Things,” *Improvement Era* 32, no. 10 (August 1929): 817–818." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera32010unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera32010unse start_page: 817 end_page: 818 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1929-08) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera32010unse publication_year: 1929 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1929, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Lessons From Common Things Lessons From Common Things By Dr. Franklin S. Harris, President of the B. Y. U. 6. Soil THERE is nothing more common than the dirt on which we walk, or the clod we kick, or the dust that covers our shoes. Yet the materials forming these are among the great marvels of the scientist. Technically, the soil is a combination of disintegrated rock material mixed with small amounts of organic matter which has resulted from the decay of vegetation or animals. Practically, it is the source of all the wealth of the world; that is, it furnishes di- rectly or indirectly most of the food, clothing, and articles of com- fort of mankind. The great industrial plants are, for the most part, merely re-working products which came from the soil. To many people soil is just "nasty dirt that keeps us brushing and washing to be rid of it," but to those who wish really to know the marvelous secrets of our world, it offers an almost limitless field for fascinating study. What are some of the properties of soil which make it so in- teresting? The plants which are useful in furnishing man with food and clothing require certain chemical elements for their growth. There must always be ten distinct elements, and if any one of these is lacking the plants would not grow. No one, for example, has ever been able to make a single kernel of grain grow to maturity without the presence of nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, and other necessary elements. The earth has a diameter of approximately 8,000 miles. At the outer edge there is a thin layer — from a few inches to several feet — which has exactly the right physical and chemical properties for the production of plants, which are essential to man's welfare. The material deeper in the earth, or that from any other source, which failed to have exactly the constituents of the upper layer of soil on our world would not serve the purpose. It would contain too much of some elements, and not enough of others, or it might be too heavy or too light to pack just right, or again, it might not contain the proper amount of binding elements for the best welfare of the vege- tation. With the rocks of the right constituency, nature proceeded to pulverize the material just enough to allow the water to dissolve the elements needed by the plants, but not enough so that there would be a needless waste. If the particles were small enough so that water would dissolve the essential plant foods away, in a few years the land 818 IMPROVEMENT ERA Aug.. iw would soon become unproductive. Nature sometimes does grind the rocks too fine for the best welfare of plants, but this is largely counteracted by the tendency which fine particles have to run to- gether. Such fine material is almost invariably coated with gelatin- like substances which tend to group little colonies of particles to- gether to form a larger soil grain and thus provide just the right con- ditions for the reception of water and air for a good growth of crops. Plant rootlets as well as the tiny bacteria and fungi which are essential to the welfare of plants must have a proper balance of air and water about them for vigorous growth, and through a nicely balanced condition between the sticky materials and the attraction of particles for each other, and the pull of the water itself, the ideal condition is usually approximated. The various adjusting factors are continually active, distributing plant food equally throughout the soil, grouping the soil particles correctly, and stimulating the bacteria to activities which produce the foods needed by plants. So complicated are the actions that the human mind has not as yet been able to fathom more than a portion of the adjustments, but we know that the adjusting is done so nicely that there is almost perfect har- mony between soil and plant. With all of man's boasted knowledge, he could not as yet de- vise a soil which would better serve plants than has been provided by the Creator. Man would imagine that plant foods in abundance would be all that is needed, and forget the little items such as air space, neutral chemicals, bacteria, proper foundation material for tall plants, and other factors which are indispensable. Who but an in- finitely wise Creator could keep track of the hundreds of fine adjust- ments that must be made in soils, and still make them all work in harmony for the welfare of plants, and therefore for the welfare of the master animal — Man? Who but the Almighty would not have left out just one single element which would forever have doomed all life on our earth? Vesper Breezes Vesper breezes, softly sighing, Vesper breezes, gently blowing, From the grove sweet fragrance bring. Stir the pine-tops dark and high, Sing a dirge while day is dying, While the last faint light is going, Sadly sweet the songs they sing. Through the trees they sob and sigh. Rustling leaves join the faint chorus, Supple boughs and branches swinging Gently sung to fading light. Seem to wave a sad farewell, Tender strains come floating o'er us, While a parting song they're singing Dying in the depths of night. Sweeter far than tongue can tell. Logan. Utah SAMUEL B. MlTTON