300 



THEORETICAL FARMING. 



one with the darkness of the other. But, whether concerning 

 the controversy on flax or on any other subject, I perceive that 

 farmers, both of the old and new school, indulge in errors much 

 to be lamented. The prejudices of the former, with little 

 exception, remain deep-rooted and immoveable as the sturdy 

 oak ; while the disposition of the latter is pliant as the osier, 

 and volatile as the chemical nostrums they employ. The one 

 party respects nothing but the plans and maxims of their an- 

 cestors ; the other, the schemes only of scientific professors. 



But fortunately there is a middle class, to which I consider 

 myself allied ; and it is with the hope of being the instrument 

 of rousing the old school, and of checking the exuberance of 

 the new, that I have re-entered the lists of controversy. 



My object is, first, to show that the farmer can derive no 

 real or permanent benefit except from his own resources; and, 

 secondly, to point out in what those resources consist. 



Not that I desire to set at nought all that Liebig, Johnson, 

 Playfair, and Buckland have advanced; for I consider that 

 they, like comets, move in eccentric orbits, conferring upon 

 mankind undiscoverable benefits. Nor can I alter this opinion 

 till convinced of error by the balance-sheet of some theoretical 

 and chemical farmer. 



It is to the profitable employment of labour, capital, and 

 skill that I especially direct the attention of the public. 



None can fail to realize profit who carry out my plans in all 

 their original simplicity. The subjects on which I treat cannot 

 be refuted without practical investigation. When thus fairly 

 tested, " Cincinnatus," following the example of the pristine 

 ag6s to which his assumed name refers, will proclaim the result 

 for his country's good. 



Even An Old Subscriber," in spite of " his luck so bad/* 

 >yill bid ''farewell" to prejudice, and, regardless of his own, be 

 found zealously advancing the interests of others. 



Thus will profit, my all-powerful ally, calmly traverse the 

 length and breadth of the land, shedding his infatuating influ- 

 ence alike on those who impede his way or welcome his ap- 

 proach. His supremacy established, we shall in vain look for 

 depressed labour-markets, burdensome rates, and overflowing 

 prisons. Who can contemplate this picture without emotions 



