154 



IMPORTANCE AND VALUE 



produce obtained by the use of these agents, going 

 hand in hand with the improved condition of the 

 soil as respects its cultivation, has already effected a 

 reduction in the importation of grain to the extent 

 of one half the quantity which would otherwise be 

 necessary. Consequently, it is not merely probable, 

 but absolutely certain, that the importation of foreign ' 

 corn will entirely cease, if an equal advance is made 

 during the next few years ; and Saxony, a country 

 with 7,000 inhabitants to the square mile, and with 

 a soil and climate for the most part very unfavorable 

 to agriculture, will herself produce a sufficient supply 

 of the necessaries of life to satisfy her wants. And 

 yet, in opposition to such facts, complaint is made of 

 over-population in Germany, and faith is' placed in 

 the necessity of emigration ! 



Results of still greater importance have been pro- 

 duced in England by means of artificial manures ; 

 but I pass them over now, from a belief that what 

 has been actually tested and proved in German 

 soil, under German climate, and by German 

 hands, concerns German farmers still more nearly, 

 and will inspire greater confidence than any conclu- 

 sions drawn from the experience of more distant 

 countries. In Germany the period of artificial ma- 

 nures is but commencing. Guano, bone-dust, and 

 rape-meal are the only agents of the kind, that, up to 

 the present time, have attained a considerable em- 

 ployment. But we are advancing with rapid strides 

 towards a time, in which here, as in England, ma- 



