332 TALKS OK MA.NU11ES. 



C U A P T E R XL. 

 RESTORING FERTILITY TO THE SOIL. 



BY SIB J. B. LA\VE3, B.UIT., LL.D., F.K.S., KOTUAMSTED, ENO. 



A relation of mine, wlio already possessed a very consider' 

 able estate, consisting of lij^ht land, about twenty j'ears ago 

 purchased a large properly adjoining it at a very high price. 

 These were days when farmers were flourishing, and they no 

 more anticipated what was in store for them in the future, 

 than the inhabitants of the earth in the days of Noah. 



Times have changed since then, and bad seasons, low prices 

 of wheat, and cattle-disease, have swept off the tenants from 

 these two estates, so that my relatii^i finds himself now in the 

 position of being the unhappy owner and occupier of five or 

 six farms, extending over several thousand acres — one farm 

 alone occupying an area of two thousainl four liinidred acres. 

 Fortunately for the owner, he possi'sses town projierty in addi- 

 tion to his landed estates, so that the question with him is not, 

 as it is with many land owners, how to find the necessary capi- 

 tal to cultivate the land, but, having found the capital, how to 

 expend it in farming, so as to produce a proper return. 



It is not very siirprising that, under these circumstances, my 

 opinion should have been asked. What, indeed, would have 

 been the use of a relation, who not only spent all his time in 

 agricultural experiments, but also pretended to teach our 

 neighbors how to farm on the other side of the Atlantic, if he 

 could not bring his science to bear on the land of an adjoining 

 county ! Here is the land — my relation might naturally say — 

 here is the money, and I have so much confidence in your 

 capacity that I will give you carte-hhtnchc to spend as nmch as 

 you please — what am I to do ? 



An inspection of the property brought out the following facts 

 —that all the land was very light, and that you might walk 

 over the fresh plowed surface in the wettest weather without 

 any clay sticking to your boots : still a portion of the soil was 

 dark in color, and therefore probably contained a sufficient 

 amount of fertility to make cultivation profitable, provided the 

 management could be conducted with that care and economy 

 which arc absolute essentials in a business where the expendi- 

 ture is always pressing closely upon the income. 



