MANTTRES. 177 



and in the soil, a relatively inexhaustible .piantity 

 of the food of plants ; and the art of the farmer con- 

 sists in knowing and using the means of I'endering 

 this food available for his crops. The more he is 

 able to divert from the moving stream (the air) to 

 the immovable promoter of his production (the 

 soil of his fields), the more will the sum of his 

 wealth and his nroducts increase." 



