13 



the growing plant. The quality of these deposits may- 

 vary equally with the difference of opinions as to their 

 value. Having had some experience in the use of this 

 material, I am willing to be recorded as advocating its 

 extended use, where it can be readily obtained. There are 

 many farms where the cost of digging and carting is more 

 than counter-balanced by the improved drainage, which 

 cannot be accomplished on such lands economically, other- 

 wise than by open ditches. By thorough drainage pursued 

 in this way I have been enabled to produce most varieties 

 of field crops on land from which I had previously been 

 obliged to remove the hay before it could be cured, owing 

 to the accumulation of surface water. 



The farmer, who by experience has learned the value of 

 manure, views the accumulating heaps with the same 

 degree of pride with which he surveys the provender in 

 the well filled barn, and comprehends that the liberal use 

 of the former bears the same relation to the growth and 

 development of the plant, that the latter does to his herds, 

 and that the perfection of either is accomplished only by 

 feeding with a liberal hand. 



Between the animal and vegetable kingdom there is an 

 impressive analogy that is very perceptible to the observing 

 eye, notwithstanding there is a vast difference between a 

 sentient and a vegetable being ; yet, as regards their 

 requirements for food and growth, and their habits in life 

 and death, there is a striking^ resemblance. Without food 

 either will perish, and it is equally, if not more, important 

 that we should know how to furnish this food understand- 

 ingly to act in harmony with the wondrous economy of 

 nature, as it is to procure it. 



