THE SOIL OF NEW ENGLAND. 29 



THE SOIL OF NEW ENGLAND. 



From an Essay before the Worcester North Agricultural Society. 



BY GEORGE F. WORKS. 

 " The Earth is not yet finished."—!. S. Kmo. 



The soil of New England is thin, but underlying our fields 

 and farms, we have others which we never saw. The rootlet? 

 of our cultivated plants wait patiently and silently, for the 

 riches so long shut away from them to be unlocked ; for the 

 salts, the phosphates, the sulphates, and silicates to be disinte- 

 grated by the action of the weather. They are waiting for the 

 deep plough to expose them to the decomposing influence of 

 heat, frost, air and rain-water. The plough, for centuries has 

 been coming nearer and nearer ; increasing the size of bulb, 

 root and tuber ; giving more range and food to the roots, which 

 forming little voltaic batteries, do their share toward preparing 

 th*r own food ; admitting air to the soil, aiding thus in the 

 decomposition of humus. First came the anchor-shaped hook 

 of wood, which we see on Roman coins, and which Cincinnatus 

 was using when called off to defend Rome against the Gauls. 



But the progress was slow ; and two thousand years after, the 

 plough which Israel Putnam left in the furrow, when called oflf 

 to defend Boston, bore too great a resemblance to it. It is true 

 that the decaying vegetation of cycles of years, has spread the 

 "Western fields with humus apparently inexhaustible, but who 

 would seek there what he might find in his own vineyard by 

 digging. It would be a concession to ignorance and indolence ; 

 and in future years, that which seems inexhaustible wealth of 

 soil, will be exhausted by the spendthrift style of agriculture 

 followed there. Already have the worn-out fields of Virginia 

 come begging to New England for agriculturists to restore their 

 their fruitfulness ; agriculturists, with the science and industry 



