14 A NEW THEORY 



We assume, then, as a proposition, that land is not 

 exhausted by its products; but that its exhaustion 

 arises from the exposure of the land to the sun du- 

 ring the period of making the crop, together with the 

 consequences growing out of the naked or unclothed 

 condition cf the land during winter. 



To prove this, take a view of lands that are richly 

 timbered and which are generally found to be the rich- 

 est. It is evident that the heavy growth of timber 

 does not weaken the soil in fifty years, for the trees 

 flourish, and the land is strengthened ; and the leaves 

 which fall protect the soil in winter. Reverse the 

 matter, and take a view of a tract of land .which has 

 not been sown in grain for many years, but which 

 has been used for pasture ground. It will become 

 impoverished ; hence it follows, that the products of 

 the soil do not weaken it. 



In order to sustain the above proposition, we shall 

 offer a few illustrations which must corne home to the 

 mind of every practical farmer in the country. If 

 you place a small coat of grass on your land, will the 

 sun have the same power to extract the nitre from the 

 soil and cause it to become dry? Certainly not. 

 No man who has observed the operations of nature 

 will contradict the position here assumed. Then if 

 your soil remain moist, having a coat of grass upon 

 it, it will not only be placed in a situation to receive 

 the moisture of the atmosphere, or the dews of the 

 evening, but it will retain them. By this mode your 



