24 MR. proctor's address. 



in relation to the making of manures. The farmer who 

 then made fifty loads of manure in a year would not now 

 feel that he had done his duty, with less than two hun- 

 dred loads. And no farmer does his duty who does not 

 produce this quantity, or more. If you expect bountiful 

 crops, you must feed the soil as bountifully with the 

 necessary food of such crops. The primary vigor of our 

 soil has been used up. Our success in cultivation de- 

 pends mainly upon skill in preparation and application 

 of manure. As well may you expect your beef or your 

 mutton to be fatted by the air, as your land to be pro- 

 ductive of good crops, without an ample supply of ma- 

 nure. It was forcibly remarked by Mr. Gray, in his ad- 

 dress to this society, in 1841, " These "unimproveable 

 *' lands," as they are styled, contain manure eno^/gh in 

 " some sections to cover all our tilled lands a foot deep ; 

 " manure enough to render every acre of the soil as fertile 

 " as the prairies of the west ; manure enough to cause 

 *' two tons of hay to grow, where now grows but one, and 

 *' an equal increase in all other productions of the fiirm." 

 From the chemical analyses that have been made within 

 a few years, of different ingredients that may be found 

 in our swamps^ meadoivs, and marshes, capable of being 

 converted into manures, there is reason to think that we 

 have scarcely begun to find out the means of improving 

 our soils within our reach. Further inquiries are proper 

 to be made on this subject ; and it behooves our agri- 

 cultural societies or the State, to see that it is done. If 

 we could be assured that by proper application of labor 

 and skill, the productive power of our soils might be 

 doubled ; there w^ould be no occasion to roam after more 

 fertile fields, in other regions, to the hazard of the loss 

 of those distinguishing traits of character, which consti- 

 tute the charm of New England society. 



Much discretion is to be used in the adaptation of ma- 

 nures to the different kinds of soil, and to the peculiarity 

 of condition in which the soil is at the time of application. 

 What will be life to one, will be death to another. Many 

 of our farmers learn this, more or less, from their own 

 personal experience, without knowing the reasons why 



