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FA K M FJIS^ R F>(;iST i: K. 



677 



of instruction for sucli purpose, it is doubtful 

 whether much benotit would be derived from itj 

 Tile most experienced farmers confess, that the 

 powers and capacity of a poil tiir [jrodnclion — the 

 i)e5!r mode of wori<ing ii, anil extruclin>:' the irreat- 

 est return at ihe leat^t expeii>!e — can only be a?- 

 certained by aciual trial lor a series of years; and 

 that rlie external a[)|)ean\nce of the land, or even 

 of the grovvino' crops, cannot be relied upon as 

 sufficienl indications of its value. In irenerai, 

 farms of any ex'ent contain varieties of soil, li'e- 

 quently mtermixed with each o'herso irrcfruiariy, 

 that it is itnpossihie to class them in a manner 

 which anv theory respectinsr their distinct qualities 

 would recommend as most advantaireons tor their 

 management. Fn one field are often to be found 

 clay, gravel, and chalk, strong and light sands, 

 arranired in palclx's, which do not admit of any 

 separation for praciical purposes: and such fields 

 must receive, in ^11 their parts, nearly an nnifljrm 

 mode of culture, the same number of pioughings, 

 the same quantity of manure, and the same rota- 

 tion of crops. 



From these circumstances it does not appear 

 probable that any great nicety in the practice of 

 agriculture, founded on chemical tests or upon 

 theoretical doctrines, can be generally introduced. 



This difficuky is increased by the disposition of 

 laborers upon a farm to resist all innovation in 

 their usual routine of practice. A change of sys- 

 tem requires a corresponding change in their hab- 

 its, which are quite mechanical, and in the com- 

 mencement supposes, in those who are to be its 

 instruments, some exertion of thought and atten- 

 tion to which they are unaccustomed. The la- 

 borers have no obvious personal interest in the 

 success of any experiment; they foresee no in- 

 crease oi' wages, of ease, or comfort; and, wiihout 

 being in any manner worse men than the rest of 

 their species, they remain stationary in their ac- 

 quirements, because they have no visible or pal- 

 oable inducement to urge them on to improve- 

 nent. The habits and practice of the small farm- 

 •r and peasantry in general, if they be investiga- 

 ted, will be found to oriijinate in indolence of mind 

 and body. They adopt such expedients as re- 

 quire the least thought, attention, and labor, to ef- 

 lect their purpose. A comparison of the effects of 

 this system with the result of a change, and the 

 calculation of the advantages to be derived from 

 increased activity and expense, usually exceeds 

 their powers of comprehension. 



For some few years previous to the commence- 

 ment of the present century, and for many years 

 after it began, corn bore a price, and capital ap- 

 plied in farming produced a profit, which tempted 

 persons of good education to engage in the em- 

 ployment; and its theory and practice were exam- 

 ined with the industry and acuteness which the 

 enlivening prospect of wealth and success is sure 

 to excite. The great causes of this gradual, and 

 then increasing rise in the price of co-n, was not 

 at that period generally known. They are now 

 admitted to have been the combined effect of a 

 monopoly of manufactures and commerce enjoyed 

 by this country, a depreciation of the currency, 

 and a vast increase of the public expenditure, the 

 means of which were furnished by loans and tax- 

 ation; but the landlords for a length of time at- 

 tributed this change to circumstances which they 

 held to be accidental and occasional, and were not 



disposed to consider it as a around for the aug- 

 mentation of their rents, and many were bound 

 by the terms of leases which had been previously 

 granted. 



It was at this period that the press teemed with 

 books on agriculture; and farmin>r was represent- 

 ed, duriuL' this brilliant era, as a science with 

 which our ancestors were little acquainted. The 

 rocks ofScoiiand, and the chalks of England, 

 were presumed to be barren, because we vvere 

 iirnorant in what manner they should be cultiva- 

 'ed. The mines of Mexico and Peru have hard- 

 ly been described in more seduciriLr language; and 

 it was only because the suiijects for this picture 

 were too close lor inspection to admit of the delu- 

 sion being complete, that great f()itunps were not 

 made at the ex|)ense of misguided individuals. 



From this dream the people of this country are 

 hardly yet awak-ened: but farmers in general are 

 fast returuinjr to their occupation as a trade, in 

 which, for the benefir of the country at large, the 

 individuals who are engaged in it must be expo- 

 sed to a severe competition with each other, be 

 subjected to a riixid economy in the conduct of the 

 details, and to a f()rbearance and privation which, 

 under ordinary circums ances, is not, perhaps, in 

 a similar degree exacted fiom other laboring 

 classes. The trade of a fiirmer rarely ai^.ords the 

 means of accumulatinff a fortune. The eye of a 

 master is required to conduct the details with ad- 

 vantaire, and his power of personal inspection, 

 must be restricted to a fpw hundred acres. The 

 [iroduce is limited; no extent of connexion can in-, 

 crease his customers; no skill or activity can aug- 

 ment indefinitely the articles he has to sell. 



The science of agriculture has undoubtedly 

 been ffreatly improved within the last thirty years,, 

 in all "its departments, and further progress may 

 be made in it. But the impulse it received from, 

 hish prices no longer exists, and whatever ad- 

 vance is now made will be gradual and slow. It 

 is probable, however, that the limit of the high- 

 est state of cultivation is not so far distant as w^e 

 may suppose it to be in arts and manufactures in 

 which new combinations of the materials are em- 

 ploj-ed, and new machinery is iiirnishing con- 

 stantly greater facilities in operation, and some 

 addition to the fijrmer excellence of the articles 

 produced. But in articles which are the produce 

 of agriculture, human science and industry hav& 

 not the same advantages. Climate and soil are 

 the main instruments by which all vegetation is 

 raised. Man has no control over the first, and 

 much less over the last than is generally suppo- 

 sed. There is in every soil a certain natural pow- 

 er or streng'h of production, technically termed by 

 the farmer,' the staple of the land, which evidently 

 forms the boundary that limiis the benefit of at- 

 tempted improvement. The soil may be com- 

 bined with ingredients which may render it un- 

 healthy to vegetation, and manures and cultiva- 

 tion may neufralize or destroy their effect. W here 

 such ingredients do not exist, manures may stim- 

 ulate the land to act upon the crops to a degree it 

 would not have done without their application; 

 but experience teaches beyond all doubt, that 

 working and manures may be applied to an ex- 

 tent that may be injurious, and when they are 

 employed beyond tiie measure which the state 

 and strength of the land require, the crops of corn 

 are not increased in quantity, and do not improve 



