276 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [September i, 1881. 
this fact, I may say that the addition of only 1 lb. 
of nitrogen per acre to the 31,000,(J00 acres of_ culti- 
vated land in Great Britain would require an import 
of about 500,000 tons of corn and cake, and the con- 
sumption of the country does not reach this amount." 
What of that? Does not Mr. Lavves know, bettef 
than any one can tell him, that a far higher man- 
urial legacy for the soil is left after the consumption 
of cake and corn in phosphates than in nitrogen? 
The latter may no doubt be washed out again, or 
evaporate, just as he assumes the nitrogen is which 
comes from the atmosphere, but the former becomes 
a fixture until the roots of plants appropriate it. So 
far as the book bears on the tenants' compensation 
question, a kind of special pleading for landlords' 
interests will be found running through almost every 
page. For instance, the principle is laid down that 
"in most cases profitable agriculture involves a slow 
but continuous exhaustion of the soil ; " that "practic- 
ally the source of the whole of the nitrogen in our 
crops is the store within the soil itself ; " that "rent 
is paid for the right to remove without restoration 
a certain amount of the stock of fertility in the soil ;" 
and that " the various restrictions introduced into 
leases, covenants, and customs were designed for the 
purpose of limiting as much as possible the removal 
of this stock of fertility." Mr. Lawes, however, 
admits that, "in the face of the increasing com- 
petition with the agriculture of the world, it is hopeless 
to bind the tenant's hands or cripple his energies by 
the restrictive covenants of a bygone age;" but, he 
adds, "if at the commencement of occupancy a brief 
agreement could be drawn up between landlord and 
tenant, to define the amount of fertility which the 
latter was entitled to remove in exchange for his rent, 
the task of any arbitrator or judge called in to decide 
between conflicting claims would be made lighter." 
This can only mean that whenever an outgoing 
tenant presents a claim for the legacy of imported 
fertility he had left behind in the ,soil, the landlord 
should be empowered to call in an analytical chemist 
to ascertain whether he has not exhausted the origin- 
al stock of fertility more than ordinary farming 
would do it, or beyond the limit agreed upon by 
the respective " parties in the first instance* Apart 
from the fact that this would render confusion worse 
confounded by introducing a new matter of disputa- 
tion, it lands us on the very unsatisfactory ground 
that, according to Mr. Lawes's views and conclu- 
, sions, the best farmers, who had grown heaviest crops, 
and kept the land more thoroughly under aerifying, 
abrading, and fructifying influences, would be punished 
most, and, although leaving their farms in much better 
condition, according to ordinary powers of observation, 
than they were in when they took them in hand, 
might be mulcted in heavy fines for having drawn 
too heavily on the pre-Adamite stock of fertility 
which is the landlord's property. 
But a truce to all vain speculations of this nature. 
Every intelligent, experienced farmer thoroughly 
believes that when he puts land into what is termed 
a good state of cultivation, the landlord's interest is 
advanced quite as much as his own, however per- 
sistently he may apply the high pressure of intensive 
tillage. In fact, most men have become accustomed, 
as the result of their own observations and researches, 
to conclude that the same rule may be applied to 
soil fertility as to capital — the larger the amount 
obtained and available for use, the easier it becomes 
to get more. The interesting but revolutionary theory 
which Mr. Lawcs has built up would do away with 
this thesis altogether, but there must surely be a 
woof in the former somewhere or other, if we only 
take the pains to seek and discover it. Probably it 
lies in his ignoring too much an active principle, which 
must exist in most soils, of fixing nitrogen after being 
obtained cither from the atmosphere or in the shape 
of manure, and of afterwards retaining it to add to 
the stock of fertility which previously existed lu 
his pamphlet we find allusions to a principle capable 
of converting nitrogen into nitric acid, and also fre- 
quent reminders that arable land is in danger of 
losing a great deal of the latter when there are no 
roots of growing plants to take it up as rapidly as 
it is formed ; but, on the other hand, another process, 
which Professor Way taught us to believe to be con- 
tinually going on when fallowing is conducted on right 
principles, receives no attention whatever. Does not 
the latter, however, more than compensate, adding to 
the stock of nitrogen which can be retained, for all 
that is taken away? This point will have to be 
settled ere the conclusions of Mr. Lawes can be accepted 
in good faith, for it seems reasonable to suppose that 
the original stock of fertility accumulated in primeval 
times become retained by the same process. The laws 
of nature are eternal, the same forces operating to- 
day as had existence long before man became a tiller 
of the ground. Mr. Lawes believes that the action of 
man as a cultivator always has been, and will be, 
exhaustive of the soil fertility previously laid up in 
store for him ; but most scientific men, as well as 
practical agriculturists, have always deemed it possible 
by adopting the best systems of management, not 
merely to retard soil exhaustion, but add greatly to the 
fertility pre-existent, even when taking continually 
heavy produce. Of the highest importance is it to 
have fact9 and experiments to give information on 
such a vital point ; consequently, everybody ought 
to feel deeply indebted to Mr. Lawes for his researches ; 
but his dictum ought not to be accepted without 
many other soils being tested, and the application of 
a very crucial examination to. every point of the 
inquiry. Agricola. 
Coffee and its Medical Properties. — From an 
extended work published by Dr. Henry Segur on 
coffee and its medical properties, we take the follow- 
ing paragraphs: It is an error, he says, to believe 
that the use of coffee affects the nerves and brings 
about ill humour as the result of its hurtful action on, 
the digestive organs. Other causes of a different 
nature produce the ill humour and general discontent, 
characterising modern society. The causes are wholly 
moral. Ambition, and the desire for riches bound- 
less and untrammelled by conditions, are the causes 
of the evil, and not the delicious and beneficial, 
coffee bean, as is wrougly and held by many of th<S 
faculiy. On the contrary, coffee taken in moderation 
comforts the system, enlivens the mental faculties, 
and stimulates pleasantly without any of the disagree- 
able after effects inseparable from narcotics or stimul- 
ants. It gives strength for mental or bodily labour, 
clears the imagination, cheers the mind, strengthens the 
body and predisposes it to bear fatigue and sleepless- 
ness The mental pleasure, sleeplessness, and activity 
which it promotes have inspirited more then one 
poet, wise man, and distinguished author by noble 
and lofty ideas. Wot inappropriately is it called 
"intellectual drink" or the "nectar of the wise." 
It cannot be denied that the direct action of coffee 
is on the nerves, but its effects are not injurious as, 
some believe, but are in fact, wholesome. The nervous 
excitement nroduced by it is not weakening like that 
from narcotics. In fine, it acts as a cordial, enlivens* 
the brain, strengthens the imagination, and brightens! 
the understanding. It contains, besides, peculiar nu-l 
tritive and medicinal properties. In intermittent fevers! 
its effects are wonderful, as is also the case witlj 
malignant ones. Spasmodic asthma, hysterical affec 
tions, inflammation of the kidnevs, chronic diarrhoea 
and even croup aud diphtheria, are alleviated by coffee) 
It is also remedial in cases of opium poisoning. -j 
Straits Times. 
