APPLICATION OF MANURE. 227 



It seems to be self-evident to me, that the earth must receive 

 something in return for her productions, or become bankrupt. Either 

 a portion of her produce must be left with her, or an equivalent re- 

 turned, otherwise she becomes barren and unfruitful. 



If I recollect right, Liebig says that perhaps five-sixths of the 

 nourishment of plants is derived from the atmosphere, and all 

 chemists I believe admit a greater or less proportion ; but one thing 

 is certain, that a part of their nourishment is derived from the soil 

 in which they grow, the one sixth if you please ; and that the richer 

 and better the soil, other circumstances being the same, the better 

 the crop. The roots of plants must be abundantly supplied with 

 their specific food, in that state of preparation which admits of its 

 being appropriated by them, or the plants cannot be fully developed. 



I, for one, do not believe that chemists ever will be able to show 

 that the remaining one sixth of their support can also be got from 

 the atmosphere, and that the only use of earth to them would be 

 as a house or home to live in, to keep the plants from travelling 

 about or falling over. If such should ever be the case, production 

 would become too easy to agree with the declaration that " by the 

 sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." 



It behoves us then to increase the fertility of the soil we cultivate, 

 until it is capable of affording to plants all the nourishment they re- 

 quire of it, in order to develope them fully. 



There is great encouragement in the thought that plants derive 

 a part of their food and nourishment from the atmosphere. If it was 

 all derived from the earth, then would it require all the produce of 

 the farm to be restored to it, in order to preserve its fertility. Neither 

 could we afford to lose any thing by the washings of rains, or by 

 solar evaporation, unless there is some natural operation going on, 

 to create soil upon the earth's surface, independent of aid from the 

 atmosphere. Neither could we enrich our soil from its own re- 

 sources ; that is, by returning to it all its produce as manure, with- 

 out extraneous aid of some kind. But experimental proofs are not 

 wanting to show that a large part of the food of plants is derived 

 from the atmosphere. 



It must be within the knowledge of almost all good farmers, that 

 I their farms have become more and more productive by restoring to 

 ihem only a part of the produce of the same in the form of manure, 

 aided by judicious management in its application, and a proper ro- 



VOL. II. NO. II. G 



il 



