66 C Z Natural History of Nova Scotia. 



was profitable. That Being, who knows the failings of our 

 nature, has, in kindness, made our provisions very perishable. 

 Rats and mice, weevils and mites, mould and must, protect 

 the poor from suffering by the avarice of the monopolist. He 

 that possesses more food than he needs must soon dispose 

 of it, or lose it. Like our provisions, the manures that are 

 required to produce them must every season be applied to 

 their proper use, if we would not expose ourselves both to 

 loss and danger. A heap of manure, kept through the sum- 

 mer, loses much of its value ; for in the hot season a part of 

 it will take an aerial form, and pass through heaps of earth, ' 

 which cannot contain aerial fluids ; while, at the same time, the 

 exhalations that rise from it endanger the health of those that 

 reside near it. It appears, therefore, that, to preserve a whole- 

 some air in our dwellings, we ought, previously to the hot 

 season, to remove from their neighbourhood every thing that 

 will serve for manure ; and that, to render this manure most 

 productive, it should be used immediately, and not reserved 

 for a following season. 



The accounts we so frequently receive of the distress of 

 manufactories appear to prove that more hands are employed 

 in them than there ought to be; but the accumulation of 

 manures, that the cholera is constantly pointing out, do prove 

 that agriculture is too much neglected. It is true that this 

 language appears to be addressed to those who will never hear 

 this lecture ; but, as I believe it to be an important part of the 

 lesson which has been given to the world, I have thought that 

 it ought not to be passed over. Nor is it wholly irrelevant 

 to ourselves, since, although few are employed in manufac- 

 tures, many among us, who might have supported themselves 

 by agriculture, are now suffering from the failure of projects 

 for acquiring wealth, in which they would not, perhaps, have 

 engaged, but for the same disposition to follow the beaten 

 track, and to trust to the supposed wisdom of others, which I 

 have conceived may have led the inhabitants of Europe to push 

 their manufactures too far. Nor is there, perhaps, any better 

 mode of retrieving the consequences of our mistakes, than 

 extending our agriculture, while we make our habitations 

 more healthy, and raising greater quantities of provisions for 

 exportation. Indeed, while the present difficulties continue, 

 we may expect numbers to come to our shores from the land 

 of our forefathers, whom I hope we may be always able to 

 welcome to a country where food, at least, is cheap and abun- 

 dant. 



