256 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY 



growth of plants which better suit his purpose, ngn- 

 culturc flourishes, and his rational want* an: abun- 

 dantly supplied. 



" But when the hand of folly inflicts the additional 

 curse, of poverty on the soil, this insatiable monster, 

 like Aaron's serpent, swallows up all the rest, 

 brambles, thorns, &c. (the mild chastisement of 

 Heaven), cannot prosper where poverty has obtain- 

 ed dominion over the soil, as may be readily seen ; 

 for these, and all other vegetation on such grounds, 

 look sallow, starved, and debilitated. 



" That man is inexcusable, and ought to be pun- 

 ished for this sin against common sense, himself, 

 his posterity, and the community in which he re- 

 sides, is evident. 



" Before this inconsiderate being enters the for- 

 est, glade, or prairie, nature has been for ages en- 

 riching the soil for his use. This fertility might be 

 preserved and increased, even by the circumscribed 

 farmer, if a system of agriculture calculated to keep 

 the ground fully replenished with decaying animal 

 and vegetable matter were practised, and due at- 

 tention paid to the augmentation of livestock in 

 proportion to increased ability, instead of the ruin- 

 ous practice of perpetual ploughing and cropping. 



" Reason alone demonstrates this interesting fact. 

 It has also been clearly shown by actual practice 

 in almost every neighbourhood by tho successful 

 enterprise of farmers who commenced their busi- 

 ness on lands bought on credit, and covered with 

 timber, without any buildings on them, and with 

 not more than a pair of working cattle, and cows 

 barely sufficient to supply the family with butter 

 and milk. Nay, more : some who were not half as 

 well off as this have paid for their land, acquired 

 an extensive stock of cattle, and become wealthy, 

 though their mode of management was very inferior 

 to that which has been proposed. They, however, 

 increased their livestock in full proportion to the 



