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XXIII. 

 MACHINERY ON THE CLAYS. 



* MATTER is infinitely divisible,' says the philo- 

 sopher. * Cultivation consists in pulveration? says 

 Tull. * The greater the comminution of the soil, 

 that is, the exposure of its internal superficies, the 

 greater its power to absorb Ammonia, the essence of 

 manure, from that great storehouse of fertility the 

 atmosphere,' says the chemist. * Soils,' says the 

 geologist, ' consist of three elements, Clay, Sand, 

 and Lime; the more suitably they are inter-combined, 

 the more fertile the resulting combination.' 



All this looks simple enough. Yet in the judicious 

 application of these few truths lie the great practical 

 problems of Husbandry ! All truth is simple : * Sim- 

 plicity is the test of Truth.' Yet, like the three pri- 

 mary colours, ' Red,' ( Yellow,' and 'Blue,' bright, 

 clear, and simple as they are to the eye, how in- 

 finite their varieties of combination ; what scope for 

 judgment, or for error, in their admixture, or that of 



