294 
Siqiplement  to  the  “ Troincal  AgriculturisV^  [Oct.  2,  1895. 
inconsidovuto  actions.  For  what  does  he  do  By 
ploughing,  i^c.,  he  turns  up  the  lower  actively 
living  soil,  and  brings  it  to  the  surface,  while  at 
the  .same  lime  lie  turns  down  tlie  dricd-up  dead 
surface  soil,  burying  with  it  the  dead  and  living 
vegetation,  wliich  under  normal  conditions  is 
here  revivified,  and  adds  to  the  fertility  the 
jirnducts  of  last  season’s  sun-force  in  the  form 
of  carlion  and  organically  combined  .saline  com- 
Iiouiuls  (manures),  wliich  should  bo  supiilemented 
by  fertilisers  to  make  up  for  that  portion  removeil 
in  the  form  of  grain,  hay,  fodder,  &c.,  or  washed 
out  by  rain.  So  far,  it  is  all  right.  If  the  ground 
be  sown  wdiile  moist  at  slight  depths,  as  is  the  c i.se 
under  cool  and  moist  atmospheric  condition  (old 
world  countries  mostly),  the  young  plants  rapidly 
cover  the  surface  and  shelter  it  from  the  sun’s 
rays.  It  then  remains  moist,  and  is  thus  pre- 
served in  con.stant  vital  activity,  unless  frozen. 
Then  all  manures,  fertilisers,  &c,  can  and  do  act 
to  their  full  extent,  being  laid  hold  of  by  the 
natural  organic  and  chemical  forces,  and  made 
available  for  the  higher  plant  life,  and  absorbed 
for  man’s  advantage-  In  this  way  no  deterioration 
or  imiioverishment  follows  or  need  follow,  but 
instead  regular  improvement.  In  hot  and  dty 
countries  like  ours,  other  conditions  prevail,  but 
tbe  same  operations  are  persisted  in  mechanically, 
!iml  result  not  in  the  same  beneficial  effects,  but 
ill  constant  deterioration  proved  by  continually 
decreasing  averages  of  our  grain  and  vegetable 
crops,  notwithstanding  iucrea.‘-ed  care,  and  tho 
ado})tion  of  more  or  less  scientific  metliods.  A\  e 
plough  and  fallow  like  our  European  forefathers. 
Moreover,  before  doing  so,  we  feed  off  all  the 
weeds  and  stubble,  or  rake  them  together  and  burn 
them,  leaving  the  ashes  and  cinders  to  be  blown 
away  by  the  winds,  and  to  be  wased  away  by  the 
floods,  and  leaving  the  soil  as  bare  as  a floor,  and 
exposed  to  tbe  glowing  iieat  of  the  sun,  which 
Imkes  tbe  surface  as  bard  as  a rock  aud  kills  all 
the  agents  of  fertility  beneath,  except  the  seeds  of 
mischievous  weeds,  aud  tbe  eggs  of  injurious 
insects.  By  fallowing  in  .spring  we  loosen  and 
bare  the  soil  more  mischievously  still,  under  the 
mistaken  ideas,  that  “it  needs  rest  that  weeds 
exhaust  it;  that  the  soil  requires  to  be  aerated, 
and  that  to  make  the  air  circulate  the  soil  needs 
breaking  up,  aud  exposing  to  the  sun,  &c.  The 
last  is  only  necessary  in  soil  reclaimed  from 
mora.sses  and  swamps,  when  the  soil,  on  the  re- 
treating of  tho  wuiter  becomes  compressed  into  a 
stonelike,  airless,  homogeneous  substance  by  at- 
mospheric ijressure  from  above.  There  is  some 
truth  in  all,  but  just  enough  to  conceal  the  fallacies. 
Acting  on  such  fallaciou-s  ideas,  we  only  succeed 
in  converting  our  fields  into  dc.serts  and  blasting 
5ur  future,  for  tbe  causes  wdiich  operated  hitherto 
in  reducing  the  oO  bushels  per  acre  in  early  years 
to  o at  iirl'sent,  are  still  acting,  and  will  reduce 
the  oto  le.ss  still,  till  not  evengra.ss  or  weeds  will 
be  able  to  exist.  It  is  not  enough  to  study  books, 
or  to  consult  “ authorities’’  by  the  score,  we  must 
vtudy  nature  herself.  'Vord-kiiowledge  is  apt  to 
i)roTedelu<ive,  thing-knowledge  alonecan  guide  ns 
nearer  and  nearer  to  truth,  which  only  he  could 
fully  gauge,  who  knew  everything.  This  no  man, 
least  of  all  tbe  multitude,  can  attain.  The  scil,  as 
all  other  things,  must  not  bi;  mendy  considered 
from  one  aspect,  but  from  as  many  as  present 
thom.selves.  What  may  be  ]>erfectiy  true  from 
oue  point  of  view,  or  under  one  set  of  conditions 
in  one  country,  is,  or  may  not  bo  so  under  another 
ehsewhere,  nor  doe.s  it  matter  how  many  exports 
or  aiitboritie.s  (rext-boooks  included)  entertain  a 
belief,  if  it  be  fa  he.  We  mu-;t  ahvays  be  ready  to 
bring  our  beliefs  and  ojiinions  into  line  with 
nature’s  laws  if  we  desire  to  inosper.  Look  about 
you  then  for  nature’s  facts.  Do  you  find  that  the 
richest  ground  which  is  bare,  or  that  which  is 
reeking  with  jilant  life.  Does  the  latter  ever  get 
rest?  Certainly  not,  and  yet  its  fertility  and  rich- 
ness augiT.ent  from  year  to  year.  Why  should  this 
be  ? Because  the  plants  grown  and  gro»ving  there 
convert  more  and  more  of  the  purely  mineral  and 
chemical  ingredients  into  sub-organic  ones  by  the 
aid  of  worm«,  nitro-bacteria,  &c.,  bringing  out  the 
actively  fertile  qualities  more  and  more,  and  at  the 
.same  time  shelter  the  surface  from  being  heated 
and  dried  up.  Moreover,  the  growing  plants 
and  their  dead  remains  arrest  the  flow  of  rain- 
water, compel  it  to  move  slowly,  and  conduct  a 
very  large  jiroportion  through  root  and  w’ornl 
boles  to  the  subsoil,  laying  up  a stock  more  or  le.-s 
in  excess  of  their  needs  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances. You  can  prove  this  any  day  for  yourself. 
Dig  in  densely  weedy  or  stubby  soil,  and  measure 
tbe  <lepth  at  which  perceptible  moisture  is  met 
with  in  summer,  and  you  will  find  it  at  much  less 
ilejith  than  in  a large  area  of  bare  ground  in  con- 
stitutionally loo.se  .soil,  at  less  than  in  bard-baked, 
nay,  in  tbe  latter  cases  you  may  get  through  the 
moist  soil  into  |)ermanently  dry  lower  down,  a 
state  of  affairs  iierhaps  never  met  with  in  plant- 
covered  areas.  Only  such  soil  as  had  become 
waterlogged  at  some  time  (swamps,  river-flats, 
&c.)  when  dried,  needs  breaking  u])  and  aerating 
by  exposure,  not  naturally  loose  and  porous  soil. 
To  render  hard-baking  .soil  loo.se  no  fallowing,  A'c., 
will  permanently  avail.  That  object  can  only  be 
attained  by  tbe  abundant  addition  of  carbonaceous 
substances  (st  able  manure,  itc.  ),  and  lime  or  sand. 
The  lime  need  not  be  quicklime,  but  ordinary  lime 
stone  crushed  or  ground,  the  smaller  the  quicker 
in  action.  Our  customary  fanning  methods,  in 
combination  with  our  climate,  do  their  level  best  to 
withdraw  both  carbon  and  lime  from  the  soil.  'I’he 
former  is  burnt  up  gradually  by  the  long  exposure 
of  the  bare,  broken-up  fields  to  the  fierce  heat  of 
summer.  The  latter  is  washed  out  in  the  form  of 
bicarbonate  by  the  floods  of  winter,  carried  to 
sea,  or  into  tlie  deep  jiorous  sub.soil,  beyond  re.ich 
of  the  roof  s of  cereals,  vegetables,  or  root  cnqis 
finally.  Why  wonder  then  at  the  decreasing 
fertility?  The  fruitful  .soi'  has  become  sterile  by 
losing  tho  whole  or  a large  jiart  of  two  most 
e.s.sontial  constituents,  is  losing  more  still.  Sand 
and  clay,  wdth  a jiroportion  of  useless  .stones,  and 
the  colour  remain,  although  even  in  this  the 
black  has  given  more  or  less  way  to  the  red, 
where  carbon  alone,  and  not  m.'uigaese,  deepens  it. 
GENERAL  ITEMS. 
Ton't)  mul  coioifri/  .says  with  reference  to 
mulching  and  Watering  fruit  tree'-: — A dry 
season  is  v('ry  bard  on  fruit  trees  as  well 
as  on  other  iilauts.  In  such  a season  mulching  is 
of  the  gi’ealest  benofil  t,o  .all  kinds  of  |ilants.  Any 
vegetaide  matter  will  do  for  a mulch,  but  of 
course  the  most  nutritious  grasses  aud  fodder 
plants  answer  best.  Litter  of  all  kinds  more  or 
