40 [Senate 



the soil deep enough. The experiments upon this subject have been 

 most ample and satisfactory, so much so that it has suggested another 

 mode of stirring up the earth, and that is by the use of the spade, 

 which is made to penetrate the earth about fourteen inches, and most 

 effectually loosens the soil. Indeed, in England, where labor is cheap, 

 and the fruits of labor dear, entire acres are allotted to this kind of 

 farming alone. The profits have been such as to repay the outlay ; 

 for, comparing the product resulting from it with that raised when the 

 plow was used, it has been ascertained that it amply remunerated 

 the additional expense. For proofs I would once more refer you to 

 the second number of Mr. Colman's Tour. It will probably, how- 

 ever, be a long time before its use to any great extent will be prac- 

 ticed in this country, on account of the price of labor ; but we learn 

 from it this important lesson, that if we strive for good crops we must 

 stir the soil well and deeply. 



To draw your attention to all the different subjects of the improve- 

 ments of modern farming, would occupy too much time. Indeed, 

 we would have to amplify on all the variety of products, animal and 

 vegetable, of the farmer. We would have to go into a discussion of 

 the benefits of sheep husbandry, the turnep culture, the beet culture, 

 the silk culture, the modern discovery of the immense product of corn 

 and wheat, and rye, and oats, and barley, per acre, from land pro- 

 perly prepared for it, and it is but another illustration that the powerl 

 of the soil for the subsistence of man are illimitable, and we cannot 

 but exclaim — " Great and wonderful are all thy works. Lord God 

 Almighty ; in wisdom hast thou made them all." 



And here permit me to ask what effect have the advances in agri- 

 culture for the last few years, had upon the comfort, happiness and 

 prosperity of man 7 Look at his temporal prosperity, and what do 

 you see ? Better buildings for his use and accommodation — fields 

 better cultivated , fences better constructed, the hand of industry brush- 

 ing away all that looks like slovenliness or bad farming from around 

 his habitation and enclosures. Implements of modern construction, 

 animals that will often vie with the best of their species — in fine, a 

 regeneration brought about simply by calling on his intelligence to 

 aid in the labor of his hands. The effect that all this has upon our 

 general prosperity as compared even now with the olden time and in 

 the older counties of the State, is most wonderful. His debts are in 

 a measure removed, the incumbrances on his real estate not only paid 



