102 YALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES. 



Mr. Tucker conceived that the first and most prominent 

 lesson we could learn from the farming of Great Britain was 

 this, that by the increased growth of meat our first step must 

 be taken toward an increased production of grain ; or, to quote 

 the proverbial English form in which this lesson is compressed 

 into four words " ^o cattle, no dung ; no dung, no corn." In 

 fact, whether money is apparently made or lost by feeding in 

 England the farmers there appeared to coincide in the opinion 

 that without it no money could be. made out of anything else. 

 A second most important iesson is, the proper and complete 

 drainage of the soil, with reference to which an account was 

 given of the draining and irrigating operations at Teddesley in 

 Staffordshire, the seat of Lord Hatherton. A third lesson for 

 ns to learn consists in paying more attention to thorough til 

 lage, including the complete clearness of the soil from weeds ; 

 and a fourth, the judicious employment under certain circum 

 stances of artificial fertilizers and purchased food including 

 under these two heads those crops grown expressly for their 

 improving effect upon the land, or for use in feeding animals, 

 and thus indirectly in promoting the fertility of the soil. Un 

 der the head of thorough tillage, the implements of Great 

 Britain demand our particular notice. Descriptions were given 

 of Fowler's and of Smith's systems of steam cultivation. Mr. 

 Bright, Lord Hatherton's very intelligent and successful man 

 ager, was employing the latter, and had said to the speaker, 

 that he would not be without it if he were only a tenant farmer 

 witli 300 acres to cultivate. The prices of these and other 

 implements were given, and drills, rollers, and portable engines 

 were particularly referred to. That island, including England 

 and Scotland, had just been compared by Mr. Morton to one 

 immense farm, the culture of which was originally entirely 

 done by hand ; tillage of the ground, carriage of manures, sow 

 ing the seed, and three-fourths the hoeing of the crops were 

 now done by horse-power, threshing of grain and cutting of 

 straw by steam, while reaping, also, is now rapidly coming 



