1 10 Fertility of the Soil. 



bushels and from one thousand to fifteen hun- 

 dred stone of potatoes, which would give an 

 average of three hundred and sixty-two bushels 

 and a half. Their mode of cropping is so un* 

 mercifully severe, that if the soil did not possess 

 uncommon fertility, a system of such exhaustion 

 as three white crops in succession, without the 

 application of any manure^ must soon reduce it 

 to a state of sterility. Yet here the : practice is 

 considered as gentle treatment ! The last corn 

 crop is sown down with clover, arid, as may 

 reasonably be expected, those crops, in general, 

 are very unproductive. 



^Gratified as I was by the beautiful exterior 

 and natural fertility of a country I had long 

 wished to see, I became impatient to ascertain 

 the state and condition of its lowly inhabitants, 

 for whom I had already conceived no small 

 degree of interest. The uniform hilarity and 

 vivacity of the peasantry, in defiance of their 

 apparent distress, indicated contentment and a 

 perfectly easy mind ; but could this really be 

 the case, surrounded as they were by cares, and 

 destitute as they were of comforts ? Could these 

 cheerful appearances, scarcely possible to be 

 mistaken, be referred to the effect of long con- 

 tinued habit, or to the want of sensibility ? Or 

 did they result from the happy ignorance of 



