During the past two centuries, scientists, farmers, and agricultural educators have tended to alternate their views of soil organic matter (SOM) between the extremes of great appreciation and low esteem. As an early 20th century bulletin explained, organic matter was “once extolled as the essential soil ingredient, the bright particular star in the firmament of the plant grower ” before it “ fell like Lucifer ” as a result of the findings of 19th century agricultural chemists that most of the plant structure (C, that is) originated in the atmosphere (Hills et al., 1908)
