The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-12-29

tangled roots were to be seen, forming
a network that had so bound the earth
together that the cutting of the river
was stopped by them. This is what the
roots generally do-they bind the earth
together and prevent rain and flood
from washing away the soil. But. they
do more than this. AS the trees stand
on the mountain sides, their roots grow
into crevices of the cliff and split the
rocks open with the force of growing
tissue-a force that is great enough to
rend cliffs or open the foundations of
] heavy buildings. Moreover, tha roots
of plants are slightly acid, and so dis
solve crevices into the rock. Then they
insinuate themselves or make openings
for the water to dissolve out the sub
stance. Then the water in turn splits
the rock by freezing within the crew
ices so formed. But every time a tree
sways i'm the wind, it moves the soil at
| its base, which then creeps a little
nearer to the river, since in shifting it
must settle downward. So every 60
| pher that digs, every squirrel or rabbit
/ that burrows into the mountain side
shifts the soil which it digs up and
! brings il a few steps nearer to the riv-
er. And So on every hand, the tread
or the burrowing industry of animals,
/ the growth of roots, the work of the
winds, the effects of heat and cold, all
contribute, in the canyons. to the same
result of shifting onward the substance
of the soil to its destination in the val
| leys.
Work of Ancient Waters.
| We noticed the masses of cOnglomer-
ate rock that must have been formed
! by an arm of the ancient Lake Bonnie
VILE which reached far up the can
yOn. The gravel was carried into the
ancient canyon lake, mixed with fine
sediment there, and compacted under
water into a concrete. Many stratified
rocks stand in layers on their ends,
running upwards for hundreds of feet
into the air, and some of them twisted
and curled into folds and contortions
wonderful to see. These strata must
have been formed under waters far
more ancient and then made to stand on
end by the crumpling of the earth s
crust as it reared them into mountains
AS the mountains slowly rose, the river
cut slowly down. exposing the tilted
strata as a remarka BILE and open chap
! ter of earth-history. The lower part Of
the canyon is of metamOrphic rock, still
more ancient, no doubt, and formed
probably in archaean times by the COM
bined agencies of heat and water.
Decay of the Leaves.
Along the river, the boughs and
branches dipping into the stream,
were covered with fringes of icicles'
the bushes of dogwood were bare. but
bright red, as were also the wild roses
and haws: the NAPLES and cotton
woods were gray and the remnants of
the virgins bowers were still silky in
| the sunshine All of these had depos-
| tied their leaves, forming in years a
rich mould that constitutes the main
part of that black soil of the canyon
which is sought for lawns and flower
beds. This mould is so fertile and so
valuable that it is highly priced in the
production Of garden vegetables or in
the culture of the finest ornamental
trees and shrubs. This black soil is
called humus. The oak bushes of the
mountain side made it in large quanti-
ty, and all the trees and bushes pro-
duce more or less of il. The black
mould lies there till flood in the river
bottom or a heavy rain on the noun
tain carries it into the river, to be de-
posted finally on the delta or river
bed lower in the valley. 1t is held
upon the mountain sides as long as
the latter are covered by oak brush
and similar negotiations; but when
these shrubs and underground have
been removed, this fine food of the
pine and balsam is washed into the
river and worse than wasted by the
floods so caused, for it is lost in the
lake, or strewn in disorder over fields
and highways where it is not needed.
Work of the Wind.
AS the keen wind swept along the
mountain side, its sound was accom-
panied by others, due to the shifting
of leaves and debris, and the contin-
ued rolling down of the earth particles
loOsened by frost and sunshine. And
we can imagine the vast work in soil
making done by the moving air
masses when we recall how the dust
storms in dry countries pick up the
earth particles from the hot plains in
summer and scatter them everywhere
as thin films of fertiliZing material: or
when we read of the sand storms of
the desert, and how the winds, when
they blow in one direction more than
another gradually bury forests, vii
lagos towns, obliterate the ruins of
ancient cities, and fill ponds, lakes and
shallow bays, change the course of
rivers and cover the bed of the ocean
itself with fine powder that is one of
the most curious discoveries of deco
sea soundings.
Work of the Rain.
AS to the soil work of the rain and
snow, everyone has observed and it is
hardly necessary to refer to it, But
wherever the trees and the under
growth are removed from the noun
tains, destruction begins and is car
ried forward at an enormous rate.
First the rich loan or humus is
washed away and carried into the lake
by the river. Then the soil is at
tackled. AS the dead roots Of the for
mer trees and shrubs decay, they no
longer enable the soil to resist the ac-