320 PLYMOUTH SOCIEY. 



the health and thrift of their domestic animals. If they know 

 that similar provision is equally important to the health and 

 growth of those plants which nourish animals, they do not ex- 

 ercise the same provident care in the case. What unassisted 

 soils produce, in very numerous instances, is gleaned off from 

 year to year, till the fields are left a barren waste. In an eco- 

 nomical and moral point of view, this is little less faulty than 

 would be the confinement of a bullock, on a small area of land 

 insufficient for his support, and the abandonment of him to 

 starve when the herbage was consumed. The earth is indeed, 

 rich in resources, for the supply of innumerable creatures ; left 

 in its natural state it will produce the just proportions of ani- 

 mal and vegetable life, and never deteriorate, — but when man- 

 aged by men, when they choose to nurture only certain classes 

 of animals, and cultivate only certain descriptions of plants for 

 their support, then the law of compensation must be respected. 

 For the desired plants, the appropriate food must be provided. 

 Excellence in the art of agriculture, chiefly consists in the ju- 

 dicious selection and the seasonable application of that food. 

 Early writers on the subject, correctly supposed, that in stirring 

 and pulverizing soils, every kind of plant would find its required 

 nutriment. But this theory could hold true, only so long as 

 virgin soil lasted. Continued cropping, makes it necessary to 

 restore to the soil, substances which are taken away with the 

 plants we remove. In cultivation, there is something more of 

 exhaustion to the soil than is taken away with the plants ; our 

 operations cause the winds and rains to carry many choice par- 

 ticles into new localities. And many of them where they must 

 remain inactive till again removed and exposed to the more di- 

 rect influences of the sun and atmosphere. In every region of 

 early settled country, and on almost every farm, a treasure of 

 rich deposit can be found, sometimes on the headlands, made 

 by careless cultivators, and always in swamps, where the ope- 

 rations in nature have been conveying earthy and vegetable 

 substances ever since the creation. To these sources, farmers 

 should look chiefly for the supply of food for their plants. 

 With diligence in the necessary labor, we believe enough will 

 be found for a succession of generations, and none need send to 



