DRY-FARMING 



the south of Europe, it was customary 

 for the peasant to till the rows between 

 the grape-vines. This practice attracted 

 the attention of the English traveler, who 

 on his return began to carry out the same 

 system on his oAvn estate ; and as a result 

 of his studies and experiments- he pub- 

 lished his agricultural classic in the year 

 1731. Tull's idea— which was that by 

 tillage soils might be constantly and 

 forever re-invigorated or renewed — is 

 summed up in his famous epigram "Til- 

 lage is Manure." He believed that the 

 earth was the true and the sole food of 

 the plant; and, further, that the plant 

 feeds and grows by taking in minute par- 

 ticles of soil. And since these particles 

 are thrown off from the siu-face of the 

 soil grains, it followed, therefore, that the 

 more finely the soil was divided the more 

 numerous the particles and the more 

 readily the plant would grow. Although 

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