Lots of people might question the need for the states to adopt an official “state soil,” but it is after all, the very stuff our states are built on. Sorry.
While the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has assigned each state, plus Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands a most representative soil, 20 state legislatures have now officially adopted state soils, giving them the same status as state birds, songs, flowers, songs and so on. Considering that "A teaspoonful of soil holds more kinds of microbes than there are people in the world," maybe a “state soil” is a fitting tribute.
Whatever you do, never call soil “dirt.” Plants grow in soil. Dirt is what we sweep under the carpet including “a mixture of minerals, air, water, and living and dead things.” Or, as we also learn from the Smithsonian’s “Dig It! The Secrets of Soil” exhibit, "Without soils, life would not exist as we know it." You cannot say the same of dirt.
Also See: The Worm Answers Kids' Soil Questions
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