CHAP. PAGE
I. [ WHAT IS THE SOIL MADE OF? ]1
II. [ MORE ABOUT THE CLAY ]9
III. [ WHAT LIME DOES TO CLAY ]19
IV. [ SOME EXPERIMENTS WITH THE SAND ]22
V. [ THE PART THAT BURNS AWAY ]33
VI. [ THE PLANT FOOD IN THE SOIL ]41
VII. [ THE DWELLERS IN THE SOIL ]53
VIII. [ THE SOIL AND THE PLANT]64
IX. [ CULTIVATION AND TILLAGE ]82
X. [ THE SOIL AND THE COUNTRYSIDE ]100
XI. [ HOW SOIL HAS BEEN MADE ]116
[ APPENDIX ]128
[ INDEX ]132

[Transcriber's note: The page numbers below are those in the original book. However, in this e-book, to avoid the splitting of paragraphs, the illustrations may have been moved to the page preceding or following.]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FIGURE PAGE
1. [ Soil and subsoil in St George's School garden ] 2
2. [ Columns showing what 100 parts of soil and subsoil were made of ] 4
3. [ Columns showing what 100 parts of dried soil and subsoil were made of ] 8
4. [ Clay shrinks when it dries] 11
5. [ Clay swells up when it is placed in water ] 12
6. [ Landslip in the Isle of Wight.]
Phot. Valentine & Son 		13
7. [ Clay does not let water run through ] 14
8. [ Sand allows air to pass through but clay does not ] 15
9. [ A brick allows both air and water to pass through it ] 17
10. [ Lime added to turbid clay water soon makes the clay settle ] 20
11. [ Sand dunes, Penhale, Cornwall.]
Phot. Geological Survey 		23
12. [ Blowing sand covering up meadows and ruining them.]
Phot. Geological Survey 		25
13. [ Model of a spring ] 26
14. [ Foot of chalk hill at Harpenden where a spring breaks out. ]
Phot. Lionel Armstrong 		27
15. [ The little pool and the spring.]
Phot. Lionel Armstrong 		28
16. [ Water spouting up from a bore hole, Old Cateriag Quarry, Dunbar.]
Phot. Geological Survey 		29
17. [ Sandy soils in wet and in dry positions ] 31
18. [ Map of the roads round Wye ] 32
19. [ Peat bog in Hoy, Orkney: peat is being cut for fuel.]
Phot. Valentine & Son 		39
20. [ Rye growing in surface soil, subsoil, and sand ] 42
21. [ Mustard growing in surface soil, subsoil, and sand ] 43
22. [ Mustard growing in soil previously cropped with rye, and in soil previously uncropped ] 45
23. [ Pieces of grass, leaves, etc. change to plant food in the surface soil lint not in the subsoil ] 50
24. [ Soil in which earthworms have been living and making burrows ] 55
25. [ Fresh soil turns milk bad, but baked soil does not ] 57
26. [ Soil contains tiny living things that grow on gelatine ] 58
27. [ Our breath makes lime water turn milky ] 59
28. [ Something in the soil uses up air and makes lime water turn milky ] 61
29. [ Soils are able to stick to water: clay or loam soils do this better than sands ] 65
30. [ Water can pass from wet to dry places in the soil, it can even travel upwards ] 66
31. [ Plants growing in soils supplied from below with water. All the water the plants get has to travel upwards ] 67
32. [ Mustard growing in soils supplied with varying quantities of water ] 69
33. [ Wheat growing in moist and in dry soils ] 71
34 a and b. [ Plants found on a dry soil had narrow leaves, those on a moist soil had wider leaves. ]
Phot. S. T. Parkinson 		72, 73
35. [ Plants give out water through their leaves ] 74
36. [ Stephen Hales's experiment in 1727 ] 75
37. [ Hill slope near Harpenden showing woodland at top and arable land lower down. ]
Phot. Lionel Armstrong 		77
38. [ View further along the valley; woodland and arable above, rough grassland near the river.]
Phot. Lionel Armstrong 		79
39. [ Rough grass pasture near the river. Higher up is arable land.]
Phot. Lionel Armstrong 		81
40. [ After harvest the farmer breaks up his land with a plough and then leaves it alone until seed time.]
Phot. Lionel Armstrong 		83
41. [ Rolling in mangold seed on the farm.]
Phot. H. B. Hutchinson 		85
42. [ Soil sampler ] 88
43. [ Cultivation and mulching reduce the loss of water from soils ] 90
44 a and b. [ Maize cannot compete successfully with weeds ] 94, 95
45. [ A plot of wheat left untouched since 1882 at Rothamsted has now become a dense thicket.]
Phot. Lionel Armstrong 		97
46. [ A badly drained wheat field ] 99
47. [ Highly cultivated sandy soil in Kent ] 103
48. [ A Surrey heath ] 105
49. [ Woodland and heather on high sandy land, Wimbledon Common. ]
Phot. R. H. Carter 		107
50. [ Poor sandy soil in Surrey, partly cultivated but mainly wood and waste ] 109
51. [ Open chalk cultivated country, Thanet ] 113
52. [ Cliffs at the seaside, Manorbier.]
Phot. Geological Survey 		117
53. [ Cliffs in inland district, Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh.]
Phot. Geological Survey 		119
54. [ Model of a stream ] 120
55. [ The bend of a river ] 121
56. [ The winding river--the Stour at Wye.]
Phot. R. H. Carter 		123
57. [ Sketch map showing why Godmersham and Wye arose where they did on the Stour ] 126
58. [ Ford at Coldharbour near Harpenden.]
Phot. Lionel Armstrong 		127

The photographs of the pot experiments are by Mr Lionel Armstrong.

INTRODUCTION

The following pages contain the substance of lessons given at the village school at Wye to the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th standards (mixed) and at St George's School, Harpenden, to the 3rd form. There is, however, an important difference between the actual lessons and the book. The lessons had reference to the soils round about the village, and dealt mainly with local phenomena, general conclusions being only sparingly drawn; while in the book it has been necessary to throw the course into a more generalised form. The teacher in using the book will have to reverse the process, he must find local illustrations and make liberal use of them during the course; it is hoped that the information given will help him over any difficulties he may experience.

This necessity for finding local illustrations constitutes one of the fundamental differences between Nature Study subjects and other subjects of the school curriculum. The textbooks in some of the others may be necessary and sufficient; in Nature Study it is at most only subsidiary, serving simply as a guide to the thing that is to be studied; unless the thing itself be before the class it is no better than a guide to a cathedral would be without the cathedral. And just as the guide is successful only when he directs the attention of the stranger to the important features of the place, and fails directly he becomes garrulous and distracts attention, so a Nature Study book succeeds only in as far as it helps in the study of the actual thing, and fails if it is used passively and is substituted for an active study. No description or illustration can take the place of direct observation; the simplest thing in Nature is infinitely more wonderful than our best word pictures can ever paint it.

The author recommends the teacher to look through the chapter before it has to be taken in class and then to make a few expeditions in search of local illustrations. It is not strictly necessary that the chapters should be taken in the order given. The local phenomena must be dealt with as they arise and as weather permits, or the opportunity may pass not to return again during the course. In almost any lane, field, or garden a sufficient number of illustrations may be obtained for our purpose; if a stream and a hill are accessible the material is practically complete, especially if the children can be induced to pursue their studies during their summer holiday rambles. Of course this entails a good deal of work for the teacher, but the results are worth it. Children enjoy experimental and observation lessons in which they take an active part and are not merely passive learners. The value of such lessons in developing their latent powers and in stimulating them to seek for knowledge in the great book of Nature is a sufficient recompense to the enthusiastic teacher for the extra trouble involved.