Editor’s note: The following editorial from Oct. 30, 1957, does not necessarily reflect the views of The Bulletin’s editorial board today.

Soils, 1957 Edition

The Year Book of Agriculture, 1957 edition, has just made its appearance.

It is “Soils.”

The new volume replaces a ponderous book that is now out of print and out of date. That volume was “Soils and Men.” It was a 1938 publication. It was a giant of 1,232 pages. Copies distributed numbered 258,042.

It helped to make Americans aware of the acute need of caring for their heritage — the soil on which civilization has its foundation.

Purpose of the new volume, more compact and not as wordy as the 1938 publication, is to stress again the central message of the parent edition:

“The social lesson of soil waste is that no man has the right to destroy soil even if he does own it fee simple.”

Knowledge of soil has expanded greatly since 1938. The new volume is timely. So is a statement by Ezra Taft Benson, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, in the foreword:

“For all Americans, wherever they live, soil is a basic treasure. Soils produce good yields and keep on doing so if they are well managed. The management of soils is among the oldest of the arts, but none is changing more rapidly.

“We know more about taking care of soil than our fathers and grandfathers did.

“There is much more that we should know.”