the fertilizing ingredients are in a state of physical 

 combination while, in fact, only a small portion of 

 them are so the declension will be more rapid. 

 To keep, therefore, a sufficient working balance in, 

 the soil, we have to return every year the amount 

 of mineral constituents we withdraw with the 

 crops. 



The soil sustains by its produce man and beast ; 

 and the connection between the fertility of our 

 fields, and the residue of the consumed food raised 

 therefrom, is so intimate, that we cannot safely 

 and rationally regard the one without the other. 

 The total population of India under direct English 

 administration amounts to about 200 millions. If 

 we allow now only 2 Ibs. a head per day of food- 

 stuffs, and value it at the rate of 20 Ibs. per 

 rupee, we find that 400 millions of pounds of 

 food-stuffs a day are consumed in British India, 

 representing a value of 2 crores of rupees, or 730 

 crores per annum. 



The ashes, the mineral constituents of this 

 enormous quantity of food, that have been with- 

 drawn from the soil, are almost entirely contained 

 in the refuse of the food, in the excrements of man 

 and animal ; and it is to this valuable manure, which 

 has been so universally neglected (except in China 

 and Japan), that I would draw the chief attention 

 of my readers. For it is upon the proper utiliza- 

 tion of the enormous quantity of this fertilizing 



