shall they not loth fall into the Ditch f" 117 



manures the plaut aud not the soil, while the farmer puts 

 down as little as he thinks will serve to grow the plant, 

 which he could not otherwise effectually do, and the 

 plant, grown through this aid, searches through the 

 soil to absorb the remains of its natural fertility. Thus 

 the decline of our soils proceeds till the humus of the 

 soil becomes so thoroughly exhausted that the diseases 

 of plants increase, and they are more and more at the 

 mercy of the vicissitudes of unfavourable seasons. 

 Then as the fertility of the soil declines, and natural 

 sources of plant food diminish, and are not replaced, or 

 only in most inadequate degrees, by natural agencies, 

 the artificial manure bill must be increased, and it has 

 been so increased that farmers now complain that it 

 amounts to another rent. But such manures, even if 

 they could be had for nothing, would not enable the 

 plants of the farmer to contend successfully with 

 climatic shortcomings which so frequently occur in these 

 islands — excessive drought, or excessive wet, or ex- 

 cessive cold. If the season is perfect the artificial 

 manure will act fairly well. Tf it is too dry there 

 may be too little water present to convey the plant 

 food into the plant, and if very wet much of the manure 

 may be washed away, and other parts of it, if not used 

 at once, are liable to enter into insoluble compounds in 

 the soil ; while if the season is cold the artificial manure 

 cannot raise the temperature of the soil as humus does. 

 It is evident then that what the farmer requires is at 

 once a chemical and a physical agent provided at the 

 lowest cost, which will act with the greatest certainty, 

 no matter what the season may be, and which will 

 continuously increase the humus of the soil, and add to 

 its depth. This he will provide, as I have abundantly 

 shown, by growing a turf of deeply-rooted, and power- 

 fully-rooted, plants. The chemist with his artificial 

 manures can only provide, of course, a costly chemical 

 agent which must always be, as I have shown, at the 

 mercy of the season, and not only cannot permanently 



