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SOIL STEWARDSHIP WEEK

Soil Stewardship Week sponsored by the National Association of Soil Conservation Districts and the National Church Organizations, is being observed over the entire nation this week. During this week attention is being focused on the kinship between a man’s spiritual beliefs and the soil resources on which his life depends.

Our awkreness of such relationship is always with us„ consciously or unconsciously. Some see the kinship most clearly from a pineblanketed mountain as they look out over woods, striperopped fields and clear-running streams or sparkling lakes.

Others find it in turning a spadeful pf living soil in the cool of the morr\ing,or in the mellow roll of the furrow slice at plowing time. For soil not only gives life', it in itself is a living thing, a combination of living organisms around a skeleton of finely ground particles of sand, silt, and clay.

All of us sense our dependence on the soil in the food we eat, many of the clothes we wear and in our houses. , TfrTlonging for land ownership—ownership of the acres one operates,desire for that “poultry farm” to which one will retire, or “just a place to raise a few flowers” represents man’s feeling that land is something stable, something to which he can tie, something in which he can sink his roots. In it he finds security and peace. ■ Closely allied to that desire to possess land is the hope and the promise of fulfillment which land gives—hope for stability, for security, for peaceful living; the promise of bountiful harvests, food and a place one can call home.

This longing for land is universal. It surges no less in the heart of a Chinese, an Asian, or a European than in the heart of an American. Because of it, revolutions have occurred and wars have been fought. Yet it is a universal feeling so strong that it may yet help provide a basis on which man—and consequently nations—will learn to live in peace.

“With a bit of land, man enjoys its use ami its harvest. To get the most from it, he gives it his best knowledge of management and culture. And of the culture he bestows on it, the highest form is wise use of land and conservation measures.

The good soil steward knows that conservation helps make the hope and the promise a reality, both now and for the decades and centuries to come.

Since soil is a God-given heritage to all people, man is merely its custodian and good stewardship is a sacred responsibility. Fortunately, it also is good business since it results in higher income, better living, greatei ease of farming, lower production costs and greater efficiency in the use of labor and machinery’.

Not only the material benefits but the spiritual feeling for the land must be added together to explain the intense interest and widespread support of modern, scientific soil and water conservation which has swept the country in recent years. Such interest is seen in the long hours which thousands of non-salaried soil conservation district supervisors are giving to speed up the program. It is seen in the many ways found by almost all groups to advance the conservation program. This is true or rural, urban, industrial, civic, professional, wildlife and other organizations.

The striking similarity between definitions of Christian stewardship and of soil conservation probably is not a coincidence. Of the many definitions, two illustrate this point: “Chrstian stewardship is the systematic practice of using all one’s powers and he material assets which have been intrusted to one’s care foe the furtherance of God’s will and the fulfillment of His purpose.” Conservation si frequently defined as ‘‘the wise use of natural resources to obtain maximum production for the benefit of man without damaging those resources for continued use.”