MEANS OF IMPROVING OUR HUSBANDRY. 65 



out and exhaust the most fertile soil. The process 

 is simple : take from it all you can by close crop- 

 ping for a few continuous years, and return to it 

 nothing in the form of manure, and the work is 

 done, or far advanced. In this business we have 

 shown ourselves to be no mean adepts. But it does 

 require science, and art, and perseverance, and cap- 

 ital, to restore fertility to a soil which has become 

 exhausted. This we hav* not yet sufficiently learn- 

 ed, but it should be our next lesson ; and the sooner 

 we begin, the sooner shall we profit by it. 



Agricultural improvement is slowly developed, at 

 least to superficial observers. It requires years to 

 renovate the fertility of an exhausted soil, to im- 

 prove the stock of a farm, or to realize the benefits 

 which result from draining, from alternating crops, 

 and from root culture. We are much in the habit 

 of calculating upon immediate gains, without looking 

 to remote and ultimate benefits. We saw not the 

 change when the law of 1819 was in force, because 

 its benefits were but partially developed. But we 

 now hear the remark from hundreds, that the ap- 

 propriation of 1819 was one of the most beneficial 

 to the state that has ever been made by the Legisla- 

 ture. The popular vote of the state would never 

 have sanctioned the construction of the Erie and 

 Champlain canals ; and yet the wisdom of the meas- 

 ure is now sanctioned by an enlightened world. Al- 

 though the construction of these canals may have 

 operated prejudicially to some individuals and dis- 

 tricts, yet the benefits which have resulted to the 

 whole state have amply compensated for any person- 

 al inconvenience or injury they may have caused. 

 So with the law to encourage agriculture ; many did 

 not foresee its benefits, who now acknowledge that 

 they are palpable and important. We must judge 

 of public measures by their fruits ; and, before we 

 are competent to do this, the seed must germinate, 

 the plant grow and blossom, and the fruit mature. 

 I F 



