ESSAY. -H 



production of the munitions of war ; and the hammer 

 rings upon the sword, instead of the scythe. The long 

 results we cannot foresee. But should New England 

 lose her markets of the South an d West, or a ruinous 

 competition be instituted with the laborers of Europe, ■ 

 then nothing could save the manufacturing cities of 

 New England from ruin, but a population clustered 

 thickly upon her soil, feeding their manufacturers, and 

 buying their manufactures. 



The soil of New England is thin, but underlying our 

 fields and farms, we have others which we never saw. 

 The rootlets of our cultivated plants wait patiently and 

 silently, for the riches so long shut away from them to 

 be unlocked; for the salts, the phosphates, the sulphates, 

 and silicates to be disintegrated by the action of the 

 weather. They are waiting for the deep plough to 

 expose them to the decomposing influence of heat, frost, 

 air and rain-water. The plough, for centuries has been 

 coming nearer and nearer; increasing the size of bulb, 

 root and tuber ; giving more range and food to the 

 rootless, which forming little voltaic batteries, do their 

 share toward preparing their own food ; admitting air to 

 the soil, aiding thus in the decomposition of humus. 

 First came .the anchor-shaped hook of wood, which we 

 see on Roman coins, and which Cincinnatus was using 

 when called off to defend Rome against the Gauls. But 

 the progress was slow ; and two thousand years after, the 

 plough which Israel Putnam left in furrow, when called 

 off to defend Boston, bore too great a resemblance to it. 

 It is true that the decaying vegetation of cycles of years, 

 has spread the Western fields with humus apparently 

 inexhaustable, but who would seek there what he might 

 find in his own vineyard by digging. It would be a 



