Shirreff^s Tour through North America. 191 



its productions reproduced year after year ; the produce usually disposed of 

 being the reward of cultivation. If such produce were to be consumed on the 

 farm, its fertility would be augmented, and the reproductive and progressive 

 increase of nature, when assisted by man, exemplified. But the progression 

 in fertility is checked by excessive luxuriance, which diminishes the returns. 

 Thus lavish and niggardly cultivation is both punished, and illustrative of 

 the maxim to use the things of this life without abusing them. 



" Man seems to have been endowed with rational powers for supplying 

 himself with the means of subsistence, which he accomplishes chiefly through 

 the vegetable and animal kingdoms. Vegetables directly minister to his wants 

 in various ways, and indirectly, through domestic animals, which are altogether 

 dependent on them. The farm illustrates the direct supply in the production 

 of wheat, potatoes, and flax ; the indirect supply, in butcher meat and wool. 

 In farm economy, vegetables and animals may be viewed as manufacturing 

 machines, assisting man and each other, and the united results of which are 

 necessary to the formation of certain fabrics, such as milk. From this source 

 man is supplied with many of the luxuries as well as the necessaries of life. 

 The results of the mulberry tree, silkworm, and cochineal insect are united 

 in some of the lustrous clothing of the fair sex. 



" The materials entering into organised life may be varied, and partly un- 

 known to man. The most important elements of them, however, are to be 

 found in air and water, and may, therefore, be said to pervade the universe. 

 Should a difference of opinion exist regarding them, it is encouraging for the 

 farmer to know that they abound everywhere within the sphere of his oper- 

 ations. 



" The localities for manufacturing sustenance are almost as varied as the 

 machinery or plants. The sea, air, and exterior of every organised body are 

 stations, but the surface of the earth or soil is the chief. The localities may 

 be considered workshops, differing in merit, without generally contributing 

 materials towards the manufactures. Sustenance manufactured in the sea, 

 and on the surface of the earth, equally sustains human life, and, in both cases, 

 contains the same elements. 



" Soil is not often regarded simply as a workshop, although no other view 

 of it accords with the operations of nature and of man. It does not in any 

 case appear to contribute materially to the formation of plants, and is only 

 useful to them by affording support to their roots, and holding their sus- 

 tenance ; being a receptable of air, water, decomposing organised bodies, and 

 mineral substances. Soil may be rendered fertile or unfertile by imparting or 

 withdrawing whatever promotes vegetation. 



" In the preparation of human sustenance, then, soil is a workshop j air, 

 moisture, light, heat, and decomposing organised bodies, raw materials ; plants 

 and animals, machinery ; certain minerals and labours, oil for the machinery. 

 In manufacturing produce, nature supplies air, light, heat, and moisture ; man 

 furnishes organised bodies, machinery, and oil, which may generally all be ob- 

 tained by capital. The parts performed by nature and man vary according to 

 the fabric produced. In the case of pasturage, nature contributes the greatest 

 share ; in cultivation, the capital, skill, and industry of man are conspicuous. 

 The neglected farm, incapable of producing turnip with a visible bulb, yields a 

 full crop with a judicious application of labour and manure. The united ex- 

 ertions of nature and man insure success. She accomplishes much when 

 unaided by man, but he cannot obtain any thing without the assistance of 

 nature. When she withholds heat or moisture, the manufacture is suspended, 

 and she possesses the power of arresting or altogether destroying the ma- 

 chinery. Farmers combine nature's agency under the term climate ; and they 

 are familiar with the general effects of heat, frost, drought, and moisture. If 

 given quantities of manure and labour were bestowed on equal portions of 

 soil, similar in quality, situated in Scotland, on a level with the ocean, and 

 the top of a mountain, the difference of produce would be the effect of 

 climate. 



