330 EAST LOTHIAN AGRICULTURE. 



facturing produce, nature supplies air, light, hat, and mois 

 ture; man furnishes organized bodies, machinery, and oil, 

 which may generally all be obtained by capital. The parts 

 performed by nature and man vary according to the fabric 

 produced. In the case of pasturage, nature contributes the 

 greatest share ; in cultivation the capital skill and industry of 

 man is conspicuous. The neglected farm, incapable of pro 

 ducing turnip with a visible bulb, yields a full crop with a 

 judicious application of labour and manure. The united exer 

 tions of nature and man ensure success. She accomplishes 

 much when unaided by man, but he cannot obtain any thing 

 without the assistance of nature. When she withholds heat or 

 moisture, the manufacture is suspended, and she possesses the 

 power of arresting or altogether destroying the machinery. 

 Farmers combine nature s agency under the term climate, and 

 they are familiar with the general effects of heat, frost, drought, 

 and moisture. If given quantities of manure and labour were 

 bestowed on equal portions of soil, similar in quality, situated 

 in Scotland, on a level with the ocean, and the top of a moun 

 tain, the difference of produce would be the effect of climate. 



Man has been doomed to earn his bread by the sweat of his 

 brow. Experience confirms that the industry of an individual, 

 closely applied to the cultivation of the soil in the temperate 

 climes of the world, is more than adequate to supply suste 

 nance to himself. It is a beautiful feature in farming, that 

 agricultural improvements furnish additional food, increase 

 almost every comfort, and ameliorate climate. The goodness 

 of God to man is thus manifested, in providing him with the 

 means of subsistence, and a reward according to his industry. 



A person who intends emigrating ought to consider well 

 what his prospects are likely to be in the country of his birth, 

 and in the district to which he is to move, and be guided by a 

 balance of their advantages and disadvantages. You have 

 chosen the profession of farmer, and I shall, in connexion with 

 America, direct your attention to a few particulars affecting 

 East Lothian agriculture, the district in which you reside, and 

 its state is perhaps not widely different from the agriculture of 

 other parts of Britain. 



The results of nature, capital, and labour, forming farm 



