In article ,
"symplastless" wrote:

Webster online
1: firm land : earth2 a: the upper layer of earth that may be dug or plowed
and in which plants grow b: the superficial unconsolidated and usually
weathered part of the mantle of a planet and especially of the earth3:
country, land our native soil4: the agricultural life or calling5: a
medium in which something takes hold and develops

Nothing about living organisms. BTW, soil is dead and alive both. A
duality just as trees are alive and dead both. We have no word for a
substance that is both living and dead - wood, soil.


--
Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Consulting Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.



"Ann" wrote in message
...
"symplastless" expounded:

Most text books treat soil as if it is dead. Defined as silt, loam and
clay
and rocks. Where have you seen it defined as having an enormous amount of
living organisms? I only know of one source. Its great that you pointed
out that soil is alive as well as daed. A duality of living and dead
both.
Just as wood is alive and dead.

You must read the wrong books, I've never, ever read that soil is
dead! Try Teaming with Microbes, to start, or any good book on
composting, etc. .
--
Ann, gardening in Zone 6a
South of Boston, Massachusetts
e-mail address is not checked
******************************

John, I know that you are just responding to an attack. Don't fall into
the same hole as Clinton when he used the dictionary to define sex
(legally I agreed with him on this but condemn him for his stance on
East Timore and Bosnia). Following the same logic we are just a couple
of dollars worth of inanimate chemicals, whose form, matrix if you will,
conjures up the phenomenon of life. As much as it grieves me to agree
with the Bush supporting witch from Massachusetts, read "Teaming with
Microbes". Some of it is a little lame but by and large it is a good
book. This news group isn't rec.hydroponics. Gardening implies fecund
soil, that can nurture phototrophic creatures. Life begets life.

Peace
--

Billy

Bush & Cheney, Behind Bars