~ 44 



mate connection .and a mutual dependence. By 

 keeping more stock of improved and suitable 

 breeds, we get birger and quicker money returns, 

 make more manure, wbicb is the farmer's sheet 

 anchor, after he has diminished the often great 

 natural fertility of his virgin soil. 



I can see no other method, alike practicable 

 and profitable, of restoring and sustaining the 

 fertility of the soil. As the population of the 

 country increases, particularly in the great cen- 

 tres of manufacturing and commercial industry, 

 the demand for food of improved quality propor- 

 tionately increases. Prices advance for grain 

 and meat, and a fresh impetus is given to both 

 departments. The more cattle and sheep the 

 farmer keeps, the more grain he grows, as ani- 

 mals are the manufacturers of manure, that is, 

 the food of crops. And here let us pause a mo- 

 ment, and reflect on the lamentable waste o^- 

 productive power, arising from the most culpable 

 neglect of the precious article of farm-yard ma- 

 nure. I don't exactly know how this matter 

 stands with you on this side the boundarv, but I 

 never meet a body of our farmers without remind- 

 ing them of the fact, that from unneces>Jiry ex- 

 posure, barn -yard manure is frequently reduced 

 in value forty or fifty per cent; a loss that might 



