320 NORFOLK SOCIETY. 



Is it not, then, for the want of a proper knowledge, and the 

 adoption of a better system of practice, that this vocation has so 

 often fallen into distaste, and the products of our fields become 

 so materially diminished ? 



Is it the part of wisdom, that this great art should thus be 

 neglected, and that we, the citizens of old Norfolk, should con- 

 tinue to be dependent on other sections for so large a share of 

 the products, which can he, and ought to he, raised upon her 

 own soil? 



These questions suggest another enquiry. Can agriculture, 

 here, be made as lucrative as most other labor? With due 

 deference to the opinions of those who doubt the productive 

 power of our lands, we answer — certainly. But the labor of 

 the farmer must be controlled hy, and act in accordance loith, 

 the laws of nature ; — for if there are scientific principles upon 

 which husbandry is based, then no eifort can be ivell directed, 

 unless it is founded on these principles. Some of the lands in 

 our most populous towns, it is true, are more valuable for 

 other purposes than farming ; but how many thousands of acres 

 there are in the county, which yield little or no income what- 

 ever ; lands, too, which are in reality the richest portions of 

 our soil, and which by draining, subsoiling, and judicious cul- 

 tivation, might be made to produce abundantly. By the aid 

 of chemistry, the crops in many parts of Europe have been 

 more than doubled ; and lands which were barren and worth- 

 less, have been converted into rich and productive farms. 

 Science has achieved wonders, not only in reclaiming waste 

 lands, but in restoring fertility to those which had become 

 sterile. Professor Mapes, the learned and practical editor of 

 the " Working Farmer," reports a strong illustration of this 

 principle. 



By analysis of the soil of a field which refused corn last 

 year, he found it deficient of the following constituents : 

 chlorine, soda, phosphoric acid, lime, potash, and ammonia. 

 He applied a compost of common salt, decomposed with lime — 

 thus supplying chlorine and soda ; bone dust, which furnished 

 phosphoric acid ; guano, containing potash and ammonia — to 

 which was added a small portion of charcoal dust and plaster 

 of Paris, to retain the volatile portions. He says, " these were 



