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The study of soils has taken on increased importance because a
rapidly expanding population is placing demands on the soil never
before experi enced. This has led to an increase in land
degradation. Land degradation is one of the most severe problems
facing mankind. Volume 11 of Advances in Soil Science was devoted
entirely to this critical area of soil science. The editors of that
volume, R. Lal and B.A. Stewart, defined soil degradation as the
decline in soil quality caused by its misuse by humans. They
further stated that soil degradation is a major concern for at
least two reasons. First, it undermines the productive capacity of
an ecosystem. Second, it affects global climate through alterations
in water and energy balances and disruptions in cycles of carbon,
nitrogen, sulfur, and other elements. Through its impact on
agricultural productivity and environment, soil deg radation leads
to political and social instability, enhanced rate of deforesta
tion, intensive use of marginal and fragile lands, accelerated
runoff and soil erosion, pollution of natural waters, and emission
of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In fact, soil degradation
affects the very fabric of mankind."
In the past 10 years, there has been a resurgence in interest in
soil management and conservation of the soil resource. With the
knowledge we have accumulated in the past 100 years, there is the
possibility of developing new and innovative ways of effectively
managing the soil. The emphasis on sustainable agriculture requires
that we understand how to utilize the soil as a viable living
resource. To meet the world demand for food within the next 50
years requires a healthy and strong soil resource which can sustain
production. With the dedication of the National Soil Tilth
Laboratory in 1989, it was decided that one contribution the
laboratory could make to agri cultural science would be to foster
an exchange of information on soil management. The focus of that
interchange centers on long-term soil management. If we are to
fulfill the goals of sustainable agriculture, environmental
quality, and feeding the world, there will have to be an increased
understanding of how to effectively manage the soil. Long-term soil
management requires integrated and interdisciplinary research to
bring all of the information together in terms which would be
applicable to all soils. To accomplish this goal a workshop is held
each year, with the exchange of information focusing on a single
topic within the framework of developing effective strategies for
long-term soil management. With the forum to focus on an individual
theme each year, the theme for the initial workshop was
"Limitations to Plant Root Growth."
Winner of The 1963 National Book Award for Fiction.
The hero of J.F. Powers's comic masterpiece is Father Urban, a man
of the cloth who is also a man of the world. Charming, with an
expansive vision of the spiritual life and a high tolerance for
moral ambiguity, Urban enjoys a national reputation as a speaker on
the religious circuit and has big plans for the future. But then
the provincial head of his dowdy religious order banishes him to a
retreat house in the Minnesota hinterlands. Father Urban soon
bounces back, carrying God's word with undaunted enthusiasm through
the golf courses, fishing lodges, and backyard barbecues of his new
turf. Yet even as he triumphs his tribulations mount, and in the
end his greatest success proves a setback from which he cannot
recover.
First published in 1962, " Morte D'Urban" has been praised by
writers as various as Gore Vidal, William Gass, Mary Gordon, and
Philip Roth. This beautifully observed, often hilarious tale of a
most unlikely Knight of Faith is among the finest achievements of
an author whose singular vision assures him a permanent place in
American literature.
The Best American Catholic Short Stories captures twenty of the
best short stories from thirteen American Catholic writers over the
past seventy-five years. Spanning most of the twentieth century,
the stories in this collection deal with many of the issues brought
into the spotlight with Vatican II. One ongoing area of
controversy, of course, is in the very notion of Catholic fiction.
What constitutes a work as "Catholic"? This new collection, with
its rich variety of themes, styles, and tones, takes an important
step in answering this question. Pat Schnapp and Dan McVeigh have
assembled an extraordinary sampling that is unique in its subject
and scope. Major contributors include Mary Gordon, Flannery
O'Connor, Ron Hansen, T. Coraghessan Boyle, and Richard Russo.
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