214 An Unwelcome Truth. [April, 
diet. Without at all adopting the extreme views of the so- 
called dietetic reformers, I must recognise that a progressive 
disuse of animal food is going on in most civilised countries. 
Nor can I forget the unfavourable influence of a pastoral 
life upon civilisation and morality. A nation of herdsmen, 
if it multiplies, is compelled to encroach upon its neighbours, 
and is always in a state of barbarism. 
As for the intellectual state of such communities, I need 
merely point to the grazing districts of England. There are 
people who do little or nothing but drive cattle into a field 
and fetch them out again. Their fathers for five hundred 
years back have done the same, and any native who has 
ideas beyond bullocks leaves the neighbourhood and settles 
elsewhere. 
The land cannot, therefore, be left undisturbed, unless we 
are prepared to return to a state of semi-barbarism. The 
population of Europe is already far greater than its area 
could support as herdsmen and shepherds. But it is pos- 
sible, or rather probable, that there is a certain point up to 
which tillage may be carried with comparative safety, whilst 
if such point is exceeded the crops are not so much bene- 
fitted by the comminution of the soil as injured by the greater 
facility given to the waste of plant-food. This golden mean 
should be ascertained. 
Again, it is generally asserted — though I could not at the 
moment lay my hands upon direCt proofs to that effeCt — that 
soil, manure, season, and seed being the same, land tilled 
with the spade yields heavier crops than such as is under 
the plough. Has it been ascertained what is the compara- 
tive effeCt of these two methods of cultivation upon the 
soil ? The spade breaks up the soil better than does the 
plough. Does it facilitate the waste of manurial matters to 
a greater degree, and lead more quickly to exhaustion ? 
Again, drainage is a necessity. Even with it we find, in 
a wet season like the past winter, the seed rotting in the 
ground. But is the facility for the escape of water from the 
soil, carrying with it of course such soluble matters as it 
meets with, not sometimes unduly increased ? Here, pro- 
bably, a golden mean should be sought for and observed. 
The kind of manures applied has also to be taken into 
consideration. The two saline manures used by M. Dehe- 
rain in his experiments are exceedingly soluble, and when 
he employed farmyard manure, which is less soluble, the 
waste experienced was smaller, or in some cases gave place 
to a small improvement. It must here be asked, What is 
the key to the great difference traceable between the arable 
