M. P. WIIiDER'S ADDRESS. 407 



not ascertain the full benefit of this increase of fertility and 

 productiveness, because the expense of cultivation is not in- 

 creased in the same proportion as the production ; labor is 

 saved, and therefore, high cultivation is the best economy. 

 Multiplying the productions of the country, is better than ex- 

 tending its boundary, atid increasing its territory ; because the 

 former adds to its wealth and power, without enlarging its 

 frontier, and, of course, the expense of its defence. 



We talk of our tariff and revenue, which have occupied our 

 ablest statesmen, excited the public mind, and convulsed the 

 nation ; and we have thought these subjects worthy of the 

 treasure, the talent, and the time devoted to them ; but if the 

 fertility of our soil were increased, and of course the produc- 

 tions, only two per cent., the addition would more than equal 

 the whole revenue of the nation. 



If any one inquire. Where is this fertility to be found ? our 

 reply is. There, where it is now throivn away. A careful ob- 

 servation will convince any cultivator, that a larger quantity of 

 manure is annually wasted in this Commonwealth, than is 

 turned to any valuable account. Farmer Tuttle thinks a drain 

 quite as essential to his barn yard, as to his cellar ; and Mr. 

 Goodman, his neighbor, annually clears his yard, stables, and 

 vaults, during the Indian summer, and lays their contents, in 

 small heaps, upon his green sward and tillage, where, by evap- 

 oration and leaching, it loses most of its virtue ; and there it 

 remains till spring, because his father did so before him, and 

 left him the assurance, which accords well with his own expe- 

 rience, that it then spreads more easily, and mingles more 

 readily with the soil. And how often do we meet, in our trav- 

 els, instances where the manures of the stable and barn yard 

 have lain for months, exposed to the sun, wind, and storm ; 

 where the soluble ingredients have been either leached into a 

 pond, there to waste their very quintessence on the desert air, 

 or to trickle down the gutters of the roadside, to fertilize cat- 

 nip, tansy, and wormwood. 



These cases are not so frequent as formerly, and we cannot 

 too highly commend the excellent and praiseworthy example 

 of some of our farmers, in the erection of substantial structures, 



