PREFACE. 5 



reclaiming waste lands, and in converting those which 

 were harren and worthless, into rich and productive 

 farms. '^ 



These considerations are of the utmost importance to 

 those who wish to improve their land, or to keep it from 

 becoming worse. It is worthy of the attention not only of 

 the proprietor of the soil, but of legislators, and all who 

 wish to transmit an undiminished legacy to their poste- 

 rity, and particularly to the proprietors of small farms, 

 these being more under control, — capable of being better 

 worked, — and having many advantages over such exten- 

 sive tracts as are but half worked and half manured — 

 producing limited crops at great expense. The same 

 remark may be extended to gardens, particularly such 

 as are cultivated for the purpose of raising vegetables 

 for profit. 



Manure comprehends all animal, vegetable, and mine- 

 ral substances, which promote the growth of vegetation j 

 and the number of these is so great, that at first view 

 the reader of a treatise on the subject is likely to be 

 confounded by a first attempt to make a selection from 

 them. But he will soon find the list diminished by the 

 circumstances in which he is placed. The use of fish or 

 sea-weed, for example, is restricted to those who live 

 within reach of them 3 green sand, or green sand marl, 

 (which is a valuable fertilizer on account of its potash, 

 iron, and in some cases, lime,) is mostly confined in its use 

 to those parts of New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, and 

 Virginia, which produce it ; and those who do not live 

 near large towns cannot readily procure the ofials derived 

 from certain manufactories. When sand cannot be pro- 

 A2 



