35 
was considered that in some districts the land-carriage would 
be a heavy item, lagoons might be formed on our coast lines 
and the salt obtained by means of evaporation as in days of 
yore. No purification would be needed for agricultural 
purposes, as the more rough and crude the article could be 
obtained the better. It would then contain the chlorides, 
iodides, and bromides in such quantites and proportions as 
would suit vegetable and animal life. The benefits accruing 
from this mode of procedure would be numerous; but, 
principally, diseases in stock would be reduced or diminished; 
the balance of nature, which is daily getting further out of 
joint, would be restored; a vast amount of labour created for 
the working population; railway enterprise benefited; in a 
word, the whole nation would partake of the blessings eman¬ 
ating from such a praiseworthy undertaking. 
“ This leads us to another important matter. From time 
immemorial stones have been carted from our cultivated lands, 
broken, and put upon the roads to make good the tear and 
wear upon them; but these never find their way back again. 
It may be argued by some that stones do very little good in 
furnishing plant food. Let us see. We all know that a 
quantity of silicates enters into the composition and forma¬ 
tion of our cereals and other plants, and it stands to reason 
that our lands must be getting poorer in this respect every 
year, from their removal in every conceivable shape, as in 
stones, plants, and animals. If left upon the ground, the 
sulphuric and other acids contained in the artificial manures 
would to a certain extent render these silicates available for 
plant food, and failing this, it has been urged that ground 
silicates, granite, or whinstones might be distributed over the 
lands to restore the equilibrium which has been destroyed either 
wholly or in part, and so give strength to cereals and stamina 
