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CHAPTER I. 



System of Nature Reproductive and Progressive, when aided by 

 Man Soil is a Workshop Nature and Man manufacturing 

 Produce East Lothian Agriculture Corn Laws Leases 

 Competition for Land Situation of Tenants Situation of 

 Hinds Prospects of the People connected with Land. 



FROM whatever sources arise the materials which compose 

 and sustain organized bodies, no symptoms of decline can be 

 discovered in them. Nature seems to be a system of conti 

 nued reproduction, and, when aided by man, of progressive 

 increase. 



The quantity of matter which has been organized since the 

 beginning of time must be immense. But whether the world 

 is viewed in whole or in portions, nature has no appearance 

 of decay, but seems a manufactory producing new fabrics, 

 which are again reduced to their elements, in endless succes 

 sion. Generation succeeds generation, and year after year fur 

 nishes sustenance. In the operations of nature there is no 

 loss of materials and when they are aided by human indus 

 try, she generously rewards man with an increase of her 

 returns, and continues to reproduce the increase. The boun 

 ties of nature seem inexhaustible, and, in some measure, 

 proportioned to man s industry. 



The system of nature, such as I have ventured to describe, 

 may be illustrated by the details of the farm. Pastures which 

 have continued under the influence of nature, annually yield 

 herbage without decrease. When they are stocked with sheep, 

 man is rewarded with the increase of the animals, and the 

 herbage is reproduced as before. If the pasturage is im 

 proved by draining and top-dressing, there will be an increase 

 in the returns from sheep, and the improvement in the pas 

 turage continues from year to year. When an improvement 

 in the sheep is effected, there will be an additional return 



