OF PLANTS BY MANURING. 47 



and comfort, and that food acts better upon a 

 healthy beast than upon one that is unsound. The 

 same thing applies with equal force in fattening 

 plants. If they are required to grow in greater 

 quantity and luxuriance upon a field than nature 

 alone admits, not only must more nutritive material 

 be placed at their service, but at the same time a 

 more grateful and appropriate domicile than the raw 

 soil alone must also be made ready for them. The 

 soil, in particular, must be sufficiently deep, loose, 

 warm, and moist, in order that the roots may duly 

 spread, and the nutrient matter be properly dis- 

 solved. 



When, therefore, the farmer wishes to increase the 

 natural fertility of his fields, two courses are to be 

 adopted J tillag-e of the soil, and manuring. These 

 are the means which from time immemorial the 

 practical agriculturist has put in active use, and by 

 which he has often increased the produce of his 

 ground in a tenfold, twentyfold, or still greater 

 ratio. 



By the tillage of the soil, concerning which we 

 shall speak hereafter, the farmer principally improves 

 its external or physical constitution. Plovghing and 

 harrowing lessen the firm coherence of its mass, and 

 at the same time render it more accessible to air and 

 water. By this circumstance both the weathering 

 of its mineral and the decay of its organic constitu- 

 ents are promoted. Deep and subsoil ploughing, fur- 

 rowing, etc., effect the same beneficial changes in its 



