102 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



wire-worm, which he attributed to keeping the crop two years 

 on the ground. I do not know how far the supposition is well 

 founded, .but.it. deserves attention. A great problem, then, is here 

 solved, if, to any intelligent minds, it has been matter of question, 

 .that; whero the product is consumed upon a farm, it may be 

 made to furnish an ample supply of the means not only for 

 maintaining but improving its condition. I do not say that 

 manures may not often be purchased to a great advantage ; and un 

 doubtedly a supply from other sources is indispensable where much 

 of the produce is sold from the farm. I have no doubt, likewise, 

 that even these small farmers would find their account in extend 

 ing their live stock, and purchasing oil-cake, which makes a most 

 enriching manure, or other substances, for their consumption. A 

 farmer in Lincolnshire, of whose successful management I shall 

 presently give a full account, is of an opinion that his profits 

 have regularly increased in proportion to the quantity of oil-cake 

 which he has purchased for the consumption of his stock. There 

 are, undoubtedly, many cases in which the application of mineral 

 manures may be both useful and indispensable, and fully repay 

 any reasonable outlay which may be required for their purchase. 

 It is not certain that even these small farmers had availed them 

 selves of all the resources within their reach. Nor had either of 

 them any advantage from the clearing out of ditches, from bog- 

 mud, or from deposits of marl. Nor had either of them, that I 

 could learn, made any experiments in turning in green crops with 

 a view to enriching the soil. The experiments, therefore, must 

 still be considered as imperfect, and yet conclusive as to the 

 recuperative power of the soil from the economical use and 

 application of the results of its own products. This teaches a 

 lesson to large farmers of the highest importance ; for, while trade 

 and commerce depend, to a considerable degree, upon large invest 

 ments and successful adventures, the success of agricultural 

 operations depends most essentially upon the limitation of unpro 

 ductive expenses, and the most careful application and use of the 

 products of the farm. In too many cases it happens, as Scott has 

 described the farming operations of Triptolemus Yellowley, &quot; the 

 carles and the cart-avers make it all, and the carles and 

 cart-avers eat it all.&quot; 



It was another beautiful circumstance in the case, that three of 

 these individuals, who, with their families, were now subsisting 



