Jl Discourse on Agriculture. 



When our first parents had offended, and were, in conse- 

 quence, exiled from that happy region, which spontaneously 

 furnished every innocent and necessary enjoyment, it was de- 

 creed, that all mankind, of whom Mam was the prototype, 

 should " cat bread in the sweat of their faces;" that is, they 

 should procure the staff of life by labour. To this end, " the 

 ground was cursed;" that is, it was doomed to throw up unto 

 Adam and his descendants, « thorns and thistles :" to the in- 

 tent, that labour should he indispensable, to render the earth 

 capable of " bringing forth its increase ;" and to conquer the 

 obstacles placed in their way, before they could " eat bread ;" 

 instead of "the herb of the f eld," which was the food, our of- 

 fended Maker had then prescribed to fallen man. Although 

 one of those curses, which were inflicted for our ultimate be- 

 nefit, by our all wise Creator, who has made nothing in vain, 

 has been turned into a blessing, by its being employed to pro- 

 tect the fields, to which the labour of man and the « sweat of 

 his face" have been applied ; and the other, or some of its va- 

 riety of species, has been by human ingenuity converted to 

 the most important purposes, not only as esculents but in the 

 arts; yet those "curses" still remain, in proof of the divine 

 displeasure, and require constant exertion to subdue them. 

 So that human labour, is not only indispensable in the prepa- 

 ration of the ground for the first stages of culture, but is in- 

 cessantly necessary in all the subsequent processes of hus- 

 bandry, in which " thorns and thistles" (the types under which 

 all weeds and pests are intended to be described) must be ob- 

 jects of constant hostility, and must be eradicated before pro- 

 fitable vegetation can be expected. Thus do we find, that 

 the destruction of weeds and pests, is rendered necessary by 

 a divine injunction, because it is a prerequisite, before we can 

 " eat bread." The first principle of practical husbandry is 

 thus inculcated. Jl good farmer must suffer nothing to grow, 

 but his crop. He must therefore use ceaseless endeavours to 

 extirpate weeds and pests. 



However small may be the attention to this salutary max- 

 im, it is the foundation of all profitable operations in husband- 



