182 



On the Theory of Vegetation. 



buck •\vhcat, rje, turnips, oats and almost any other plant 

 the seed of which can be collected, would be purchaseable 

 at a small expense, and a crop or two turned iiito the most 

 exhausted soil; would render it fertile. Suppose a man 

 should sow three bushels of oats upon an acre, (and on poor 



would be necessary) the ex- 

 pense would be 4^. and Qd. Add to this, a day's plowing 

 in preparing the ground, and another, in plowing in the 

 crop, when nearly full grown. The expense and labor 

 are not considerable, and such a quantity of fresh vegetation. 



land a large quantity 



of seed 



with earth, and there fermentin 





ould be 



qual 



to twenty, thirty or perhaps fifty loads of stable manure. 

 The necessity, of attending to these principles "is increesing 

 every day in this part of America, where a great part of 

 the land is impoverished by long cultivation. To suffer 



old feelds to lie without 



any 



upon them 



( 



a spontaneous growth of weeds, is an immense loss to th 

 farmer. The air contains the principles of fertility, but 



\ 



barren earth will attract and absorb these principles 



slowly 



ithout the help 



of vegetation. 



The plow 



O" 



o 



land has a good effect, especially just before 



ig the surface, it prepares the soil for 

 ig the salts with which the atmosphere 



loosen 



o 



ery 

 of 



by 



and 



ed 



E 



the most efficac 



imp r eg 



method of collecting the fer- 



particles of the air, is, to seed the earth 



ith 



of the succulent plants, which feed upon these particles 

 It should be observed further that when the j^lants 

 obtained their 



h 



growth, they should be plowed in; for being 



■ed, they produce fermentation, and the 



and salts 



all 



