W. S. KING'S ADDRESS. 635 



retains all of its valuable constituents ? Why, gentlemen, if 

 one were to say that plants, to thrive, require food in certain 

 proportions ; and'that if one of the necessary substances is not 

 present in the soil, and is not supplied in the manure, the plant 

 cannot^ thrive ; and that in proportion as you have or apply 

 the precise quantity of each ingredient necessary, so nearly do 

 you come to getting the maximum crop, — you would set it 

 down at once, in scorn, as scientific farming ! And yet how 

 else do you account for the fact, that one man grows an hun- 

 dred bushels of corn to an acre and another but twenty ? 

 Why, clearly, because the land whereon grew the hundred 

 bushels was naturally, or by scientific treatment, in a proper 

 condition for corn-bearing, — had in its womb all the necessary 

 kinds, and enough of each kind of food, that the young and 

 the gi'owing plant required for its leaves, its stalk, its tassel 

 and its ear. And how do you account for the fact, that you 

 do not get an equal crop on the same ground the next year ? 

 Why, because the first crop has eaten up a good share of the 

 food in the ground-pantry ; and the third season, (if any man 

 is silly enough to try corn again on the same ground, without 

 having supplied food by manure,) the third crop would find 

 the shelves pretty well cleaned ; and the progeny of that year 

 would be pigmies. 



On how many farms in Norfolk County is an accurate cal- 

 culation made of the cost of growing different crops, so as to 

 decide which is the most profitable to raise ? On how many 

 farms is an account kept of outlay and income from each field 

 and each animal, that the prudent husbandman may know 

 where is the mouse-hole in his meal-bin ? This is not done 

 because it would be scientific farming. To be sure, a merchant 

 who pretended to carry on an extensive business without keep- 

 ing books, and without taking now and then " an account of 

 stock ;" or who continued to deal in certain styles of goods, 

 without knowing whether he was making or losing money by 

 the operation, would be held insane. But surely that is no 

 reason why a man who prides himself on being a plain, prac- 

 tical farmer, should farm by arithmetic. 



Do farmers hereabout, or farmers generally anywhere, at- 

 tempt gradually to improve their seed by early and judicious 

 selection; and by always planting the best, instead of re- 



