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large and expensive application of manure. If the hay is cut 

 several times a year it is a heavy draft upon the soil, and some 

 restitution must be made to the soil or it will soon cease to meet 

 the expectations of the husbandman. The English farmer, en- 

 lightened by experience, in order to strengthen the land and stimu- 

 late the grass roots to renewed exertion, will draw out upon the 

 meadow various kinds of manure to supply whatever wants he 

 may deem the land requires. 



There are not many kinds of manure in reach of a Tennessee 

 farmer, unless he takes the forethought to provide them. But if 

 he does take this in mind, and watches closely for everything that 

 will contribute to this end, he will be surprised himself at the result 

 in a very short time. Besides those elements that are at the com- 

 mand of every careful farmer, there is another class of manures 

 called " artificial," and these can be procured at any place by a 

 sufficient outlay. But they are costly, and it requires a scientific 

 acquaintance with their properties before the ordinary farmer will 

 have the courage to invest in them. In other words, he must be 

 able to see why and how his money will be returned with interest. 



In order to properly understand the requirements of plants, it is 

 essential the action of the different manures should be known, to- 

 gether with an approximate knowledge of the constituents of the 

 soil. Soils are the result of the degredation, or breaking down, 

 from various causes, of rocks. Through the great convulsions of 

 nature this triturated dust is mingled together, so that every specie* 

 of rock formation is represented in every handful of clay. Were 

 this not the case, we would have over limestone rocks a great mass 

 of unproductive pulverized carbonate of lime ; or over granite, 

 we would see nothing but the sparkling atoms of quartz and mica, 

 and over each stratum there would be the constituents of that rock, 

 and hence no vegetation would charm the eye or delight the heart, 

 to say nothing of our digestive wants. Through the agency of 

 perfectly natural causes (water principally), the soils have been 

 intimately mingled. By this wise provision vegetation in every 

 spot in the world finds some elements necessary to its existence. 

 But it sometimes happens that there is a deficiency of some of the 

 elements, and again that there is a surplus. In the great alluvial 

 s wamps decayed vegetable matters exist to such an extent that 

 some cereals do not thrive well, and on the other hand, on the 



