Lessons on Soil
The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press propose to issue a Nature Study Series of which this is the first volume.
We count ourselves fortunate in securing Dr E. J. Russell as author and Soil as subject. The subject is fundamental, for, just as the soil lies beneath the plant and animal life we see, so is a knowledge of the soil necessary for all understanding of flora and fauna. The real complexity of the apparently simple element Earth, and the variety of methods required for exploring it, are typical of the problems which the tout ensemble of the outdoor world presents to the naturalist.
Dr E. J. Russell has not only acquired a first-rate and first-hand knowledge of his subject at Wye and at Rothamsted; his own researches have recently extended our knowledge of the micro-organisms in the soil and their influence on fertility. Further, what is very much to our purpose, he has himself had practical experience in teaching at an elementary school in Wye and at a secondary school in Harpenden.
Just at the present moment, County Councils are trying to push rural education and to awaken the intelligence of country children by interesting them in their surroundings. It is, therefore, a favourable opportunity to offer these pages as a concrete suggestion in model lessons and object lessons, showing exactly what can be done under existing conditions.
The book is intended to help children to study nature; there is no attempt to substitute book study for nature study. Hence, whilst there are passages of continuous reading, it is not a mere reader. Many teachers, myself among them, have felt the difficulty of organising practical work for large classes. Dr Russell has written so that, whilst nominally showing the pupil how to learn, he is secretly scattering hints for the teacher who is learning how to teach.
Abundant and varied practical exercises have been suggested, and careful instructions have been given so that the book shall seem intelligible even in the absence of a teacher. The proposed practical work is not only what might be done by eager boys and girls on half-holidays, but what can be done by every scholar in the course of ordinary school work. The pictorial illustrations are intended as aids to observation, not as substitutes. Drawing is one form of practical exercise, and the preparation of corresponding illustrations in the scholars' notebooks from the apparatus used in the classroom and the fields around the school may afford exercises in artistic work with pen, brush or camera.
Edward J. Russell
LESSONS ON SOIL
E. J. RUSSELL, D.Sc. (Lond.)
PREFACE
CONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
INTRODUCTION
Fig. 1. Soil and subsoil in St George's school garden
Fig. 2. Columns showing what 100 parts of soil and subsoil were made of
Fig. 3. Columns showing what 100 parts of dried soil and subsoil were made of
Fig. 4. Clay was plastered over a square piece of board and completely covered it. After drying for a week the clay had shrunk and cracked
Fig. 5. Clay swelling up when placed in water and overflowing from the egg-cup into which it was put
Fig. 6. Landslip in the Isle of Wight
Fig. 8. Sand allows air to pass through it, and so water runs out of the bottle. Clay does not let air pass, and the water is therefore kept in, even though the tube is open.
Fig. 9. A brick standing in water. The air in the brick is driven inwards by the water and forces the liquid up the tube in order to escape
Fig. 10. Addition of lime to turbid clay water now makes the clay settle and leaves the water quite clear
Fig. 11. Sand dunes, Penhale sands, Cornwall
Fig. 12. Sand from Penhale sand dunes blowing on to and covering up meadows
Fig. 14. Foot of a chalk hill at Harpenden where a spring breaks out just under the bush at the right-hand side of the gate
Fig. 15. "The little pool below the tree"
Fig. 16. Water bursting out from an underground spring, Old Cateriag Quarry, Dunbar
Fig. 18. The roads round Wye. As far as possible they keep off the clay (the plain part of the map) and keep on the chalk or the sand (the dotted part of the map)
Fig. 19. Cutting and carrying peat for fuel, Hoy, Orkney
Fig. 20. Rye growing in surface soil (Pot 3), subsoil (Pot 4), and sand (Pot 5)
Fig. 21. Mustard growing in surface soil (Pot 3), subsoil (Pot 4), sand (Pot 5)
Fig. 22. Mustard growing in surface soil previously cropped with rye (Pot 1) and in surface soil previously uncropped (Pot 2)
Fig. 23. Pieces of grass, leaves, etc. change into plant food in the surface but not to any great extent in the subsoil. Mustard is growing in surface soil (Pot 3), in surface soil and pieces of grass (Pot 6), in subsoil (Pot 4), and in subsoil and grass (Pot 7)
Fig. 24. Soil in which earthworms have been living and making burrows
Fig. 25. Fresh soil turns milk bad, but baked soil does not
Fig. 26. Soils contain tiny things that grow on gelatine
Fig. 27. Bottle containing lime water, used to show that breath makes lime water milky
Fig. 28. A bag of soil is fixed into a flask containing lime water. In a few days some of the air has been used up, and the lime water has turned milky
Fig. 29. Loam and sand both retain water, but loam better than sand
Fig. 30. Water can rise upwards in soil. It can, in fact, travel in any direction, from wet to dry places
Fig. 31. Wheat growing in soils supplied from below with water. All the water the plant gets has to travel upwards
Fig. 32. Mustard growing in soils supplied with varying quantities of water. 16 very little water, 3 a nice amount of water, 15 too much water
Fig. 33. This wheat growing on very moist soil was still green and growing vigorously, whilst this wheat growing on rather dry soil was yellow and ripe
Fig. 35. Plants give out water through their leaves
Fig. 37. Hill slope near Harpenden. Woodland at the top, arable land lower down. In the valley there is grass land but this is hidden by the cottages
Fig. 38. View further along the valley, woodland and arable above rough grass land near the river
Fig. 39. Rough grass pasture near the river, above that is arable land and still higher is woodland
Fig. 40. After harvest the farmer breaks up his land with a plough and then leaves it alone until seed time
Fig. 41. Rolling in mangold seeds on the farm
Fig. 42. Soil sampler. (See p. 82 for description)
Fig. 43. Cultivation and mulching reduce the loss of water from soils
Fig. 45. A plot of wheat left untouched since 1882 at Rothamsted has now become a dense thicket
Fig. 46. A wheat field in May. The large patch in the centre where the crop is doing badly lay under water for much of the winter because of the bad drainage
Fig. 47. Highly cultivated sand in Kent. Gooseberries are growing in the foreground, vegetables behind, and hops in background
Fig. 48. A Surrey heath
Fig. 49. Woodland and heather on light sandy soil, Wimbledon Common
Fig. 50. Poor sandy soil in Surrey, partly cultivated but mainly wood and waste
Fig. 51. Open chalk cultivated country, Isle of Thanet
Fig. 52. Cliffs at the seaside, Manorbier, Pembrokeshire
Fig. 53. Inland cliff. Salisbury Crags, Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh
Fig. 56. The two sides of the river at the bend
Fig. 56. The winding river Stour. The river winds from the right to the left of the picture, then back again, and then once more to the left, passing under the white bridge and in front of the barn.
Fig. 58. Ford and Coldharbour, near Harpenden
APPENDIX
INDEX