18 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 



science has been considered at all applicable to ag- 

 riculture, it is matter of gratulation that so much 

 has already been accomplished. The field-culture 

 of the potato began not far from 1750, and probably 

 has increased the means of human subsistence in a 

 greater degree, wherever it can be cultivated, than 

 any other single plant. Spring wheat did not come 

 into extensive use as a crop in England until about 

 the commencement of the present century. It has 

 operated advantageously on lands not suitable to faU 

 or winter wheat, and of that, as well as of barley 

 and oats, several varieties, superior in quality and 

 more productive than the old, have been originated. 



Draining, which may be said to date from about 

 1760, has become an important aid to agriculture, 

 and by its skilful application millions of acres, com- 

 paratively worthless, have been made very valuable 

 and productive. All soils kept constantly wet, or 

 liable to stagnant water, will always be cold and 

 poor. By draining off this "water and allowing the 

 free access of atmospheric influences, aided by mo- 

 ving the soil with the plough, it soon becomes less 

 heavy and cold, and immediately becomes fertile 

 and productive. The use of lime in agriculture has 

 been attributed to Pringle ; but, although he may 

 deserve the credit of first publicly caUing the atten- 

 tion of the agricultural public to it as a manure, its 

 value for soils had been understood for centuries, as 

 the ancient writings we have alluded to most con- 

 vincingly prove. Its use in England has continued 

 to increase, and it now forms one of the most im- 

 portant items in a course of renovating and amelio- 

 rating the soil in that kingdom. 



Coming, as the first colonists of the United States 

 did, direct from the British Isles, and the intercourse 

 with that country having continued, with only two 

 slight interruptions, until the present time, it would 

 follow, as a matter of course, that our modes of 

 thinking and acting should be, in a great degree, 



