ESSAY ON MANURES. 179 



our river bottoms — in a fair state of cultivation. I was fitting 

 the piece for wheat. It was thoroughly ploughed. I followed 

 afterwards with a subsoil plough, and raised and loosened the 

 soil, and let it fall back again into its place. The result was, it 

 took several years, and many loads of manure, to bring that 

 part of the field (for I tried the experiment on only one side of. 

 the field,) into as good a state of fertility as the other. But by 

 no means would I condemn the practice of snbsoiling ; for we 

 all know, as has been remarked by Mr. Brown, that by continu- 

 ally exposing the subsoil to the air, we render it fertile. This 

 we all admit, and we need to stir our soils more, we need to go 

 deeper and deeper every year, we need a more thorough culti- 

 vation, and above all things, we need to talk upon the subject 

 of underdraining. Water is the great drawback on the farm. 

 Our lands are too cold. We may till those lands at any season 

 of the year, still it is no advantage, essentially, if we are to be 

 troubled with water in the subsoil. 



Mr. Clement. I would like to have Mr. Porter state whether 

 his soil is level or not. I understood him to say he would 

 recommend subsoil ploughing on all land, of whatever character. 



Mr. Porter. It is level. 



]M A N U R E S . 



The subject of Manures was then taken up for discussion, and 

 the Chairman (Mr. Hyde, of Lee,) opened the debate by 

 reading the following paper : — 



Manure lies at the foundation of agriculture. It is the raw 

 material from which the farmer manufactures his products. So 

 highly is it prized by the Belgians, that they call it " the god of 

 agriculture." The increasing estimation in which it is held in 

 our own country is manifest from the increased price Ave have 

 to pay for it. In New England the price has doubled within the 

 last ten years. We are not sorry to notice the enhanced market 

 value of manure, for the tendency will be to induce every one 

 to husband his resources in this respect more carefully, and the 

 agricultural products of the country will be increased propor- 

 tionally. The waste of manure is the crying sin of all new 

 countries. Much as we have improved in New England in the 

 increase of our fertilizing resources, there is still a wide margin 



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