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" To " subdue the earth," to render it fruitful, and to keep it so, 

 is the province of Agriculture. 



Creative Power has made the earth capable of producing ; has 

 decreed that it shall produce something ; but has left it for the 

 skill and energy of man to decide, to a considerable extent, what 

 it shall produce, and to determine, in some degree, how much. 



In the first place, the earth is to he subdued, cleared of obstruc- 

 tions, mellowed, and cured of its tendency to useless production. 

 In the second place, useful productions are to he installed ; and 

 these are to be selected with an intelligent reference to soil, cli- 

 mate, and the wants of the community. In the third place, these 

 productions are to he expended with a wise regard to future pro- 

 ductiveness. Such of their ingredients as came from the soil are 

 to be returned to it, or others of equal fertilizing value to be sub- 

 stituted, in order that the soil may be increasingly fertile. 



How best to prepare the soil — how to put it to the most pro- 

 fitable use — how to dispose of its products advantageously to 

 both the soil and its owner, so that w^hile the one shall increase 

 in fertiUty, the other shall advance in wealth and intelligence, and 

 in moral and social influence, are the questions of scientific agri- 

 culture. 



Labor is an important requisite, but not the only requisite of 

 successful husbandry. Cultivated mind, matured judgment, good 

 sense enlightened by study and experience, find no better field 

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