175 



tific and practical, he would still, as an universal genius, be compara- 

 tively useless to his species ; for the reason, that, should he live on, witLi- 

 unimpaired energies, for another thousand years, his limited facultks 

 "would not admit of his retaining sufficient knowledge of anything, to 

 render him useful, either to himself or others. Like a child with a ]arg:& 

 apple in each hand, one branch of knowledge must slip from him while 

 he is attempting to grasp another. Keither could any individual who- 

 would be likely to use them, ever possess himself of all the implementa* 

 of agriculture and the arts ; and it would be bad economy if he could,, 

 since each individual would be obliged to keep on hand the means oT 

 producing whatever he consumed, whilst all but a fraction of their oos^, 

 must remain unproductive on his hands. The foregoing hasty glanee ait 

 this feature of civilized society, must be sufficient to convince the most,, 

 thoughtless, that a state of society at all removed from barbarism, can-* 

 not exist without a division of labor and an exchange of products, no6 

 only between agriculture and the arts, but also between different branches; 

 of the arts themselves. 



Analogous to the division of labor between intelligent agents, accord- 

 ing to their various tastes and talents, is the division of labor between 

 different soils and seasons and climates, according to their various produc- 

 tive powers. 



The former is founded in the nature of man ; the latter, in the consti- 

 tution of the globe he inhabits. Amongst the most prominent character- 

 istifcs of our planet are, variety of soil, variety of season, and variety of 

 climate, and a consequent and corresponding variety of natural products,. 



Variety of soil is so common, that it is found, not only in the same 

 latitude, but in the same town, and, almost invariably, upon the same 

 farm ; and a sorry farmer must he be, Avho does not know something; 

 about the adaptation of crops to different descriptions of soil. Without, 

 the aid of chemical analysis, the observant farmer learns from observa- 

 tion and experience, what particular crop, or class of crops, is best 

 adapted to each of his fields, and endeavors, as far as practicable, in the 

 subdivisons of his farm, to classify these varieties so that the soil best 

 adapted to the growth of the coarser grains and roots, shall be by itself;, 

 that adapted to the smaller grains, by itself; and those suited to meadow 

 or pasturage, by themselves, respectively. And although the importance 

 of rotation of crops, may sometimes induce him to deviate somewhat 

 from natural adaptation, and though a knowledge of Jthe chemical prop- 



