366 
other green crops in that country is not so much to raise food for cattle 
as to raise manure. The more green crops they grow, the more cattle 
they can keep, the more cattle they can feed, the more manure they can 
make, and the more manure they can apply to the soil, the heavier 
grain crops they can raise.* Thus it may be seen that by a judicious 
use of extraneous manures as guano, bones, or superphosphate of lime, 
not only may the immediate crop to which they are applied be benefitted, 
but by skill and economy they may be made to effect a permanent im¬ 
provement in a farm. If, as is the case in England, a certain proportion 
of the arable land of a farm is devoted each year to the growth of roots, 
and a quantity of guano in addition to the manure made on the farm is 
applied to the root crops through one rotation, and if the produce is in¬ 
creased one-third by the aid of this additional manure, and it has been often 
increased much more than this, then the farmer by this increased produce 
is enabled to feed one-third more cattle and to make one-third more man¬ 
ure, to apply to the same extent of land. I may conclude my remarks 
on this subject in the words of one of the most enterprising and enlight¬ 
ened farmers of the present c^y, Mr. Mechi:—“The great secret of pro¬ 
fitable farming is this: to be able to grow a very large increase on a small 
piece of ground. The great friend of the farmer is manure; and if he 
doubles his manure, he will then have some hopes of doubling his 
crops.” 
The food of plants absorbed from the soil can only enter the extremi¬ 
ties of the roots in a state of solution ; a knowledge of this fact and of the 
great per-centage of water which plants contain, has induced Mechi, and 
other farmers, to dissolve their manure and convey it by means of pipes 
and a stationary steam-engine to their growing crops. Andrew Knight 
had a reservoir in his garden, so situated that he could turn the water 
on to different parts of his garden as required ; and so decided were the 
advantages derived that he considered a market-gardener could well af¬ 
ford to pay double the amount of rent for a piece of land where he could 
have the same command of water as he possessed. If the use of simple 
water in the cloudy and moist climate of England proves so beneficial, 
what will be the effect of liquid manure when applied in quantities to 
■ 4 
* Let me not he misunderstood here.—The manure is applied to the preceding green 
crop, and not directly to the grain crop. 
