22 SOME OF THE PRINCIPLES 



impaired, the natural fertility of our soils ; — and that, with 

 the aid of improved implements of husbandry, and a good 

 system of management, we may also greatly increase the 

 profits of its culture. 



These principles do not rest upon mere theory. They 

 have been long reduced to practice, thoroughly tested, 

 and their correctness amply verified. They have, in 

 their practical application, virtually converted Flanders 

 into a garden, and rendered it so fertile in human food, 

 that each acre is said to be capable of supporting its man. 

 The system which these principles inculcate, has changed 

 Scotland, in a little more than half a century, from com- 

 parative sterility and unproductiveness, into one of the 

 richest and most profitable agricultural districts in Europe. 

 It has increased the products of the corn harvest, in Great 

 Britain, in sixty years, from 170 to 340 millions of 

 bushels. It has doubled, trebled, and quadrupled the ag- 

 ricultural products of many districts in our own country. 

 It has augmented the value of farms, in some of these dis- 

 tricts, two, three, and four hundred per cent. — from twen- 

 ty and thirty dollars, to one hundred dollars and more per 

 acre. It has made every acre of arable land, upon which 

 it has been practised ten years, and lying contiguous to 

 navigable waters or a good market, worth at least one 

 hundred dollars, for agricultural purposes. 



We will state some cases of comparison, between the 

 products of the old and new system of farming, to illus- 

 trate more fully the advantages of the latter. 



The average products in Flanders are stated by Rad- 

 clifFe as follows : wheat 32 bushels, rye 32J, oats 52, 

 potatoes 350, per acre. Flanders has generally a flat 

 surface, with a light, sandy soil, illy adapted to wheat. 

 It is naturally very similar to the sandy district upon the 

 sea-coast in New Jersey, Maryland, and the sandy plains 

 in the valley of the Connecticut. 



In the fertile districts of Scotland, according to Sir 

 John Sinclair, and in propitious seasons, '' the farmer 

 may confidently expect to reap, from 32 to 40 bushels 

 of wheat ; from 42 to 50 bushels of barley ; from 52 to 

 64 bushels of oats, and from 28 to 32 bushels of beans, 



