Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1871-12-23
V Err MONT FARMER

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1t would seem, therefore. that the manu-
facture and sale has for the larger part, pass
ed into the hands of "highly respectable, fair
dealing and skilled parties;' and no doubt
can be entertained that II similar result will
be reached in this country, and with greater
rapidity than obtained in England.
WHO SHOULD USE THEM.
The remark is frequently made, II don't
believe that any commercial fertilizers are
as good us barn manure, and therefore | will
have nothing to do with Them" To such my
reply Is, that the premise is admitted without
the slightest hesitation. but the legitimacy of
the conclusion is open to doubt. If you have
iarmyard manure enough, you are the very
man to let commercial manures alone. But
have you?
Suppose was to visit the shop of II sur
gcon-mechanic and after critically examin-
ing the artificial legs and arms and crutches
ana spllnts and supporters, should tell him
that thought his wares We're vastly inferior
to those OF natures providing, and that |
would have none of them; submit whether
he would not answer my objection fairly, and
fully. by replying,-"I do not expect YOU to
buy OF me. | labor not for the whole, but for
the crippled. There are those who are will
ing to avail themselves of my assistance, and
to pay me for my labor"
So it is with most of us. There are few
New England farmers who do not have to
deal with crippled land-land unable to bear
the burdens OF II successful agriculture with
out artificial helps-unable. too, i'm part, be-
cause we. and our fathers before us have
dealt hardly by it. We have taken too much
from 1t, and have given too little to il; and
the day of reckoning has come, us come it al
ways VIII, in every case, sooner or later
where the laws of order are violated. 1t is
well for us to remember that Gods laws all
take care of themselves, in due time, and
equally so whether the laws be about theft
and adultery and idolatry, or about gravit;.-
ton and nutrition and fertilization and they
require neither detective police, nor judge.
norJury nor sheriff; they execute themselves
nobody lodges one of them. The man is i
to be pited who confounds His laws with
statute enactments manufactured by legisla-
lures.
1t is our duty, and our privilege to repent.
to try to make good the evil of our misdeeds
in the past, and thus to leave our lands to our
children better and not worse, than we found
them. And this brings me to the consider;i-
ton of a very important point in the use of
commercial fertilizers, and one which is too
often ovel looked, which is this: We all know
that crutches are used with various intent.
by the hopeessly lame they are used for tenn
porary relief only; but by those not incurably
crippled, they are used with the purpose Of
getting well,-they are used i'm II way calcu-
lated to accomplish the end in view, in such
IL way us may enable to lay by strength, so
as by-and-by, to do without artificial helps.
Such should be our intent also. Our lands
are not hopelessly crippled. five can but
add manure enough for limited term, to
enable us to get good crops, and then use
those crops in II way which shall enable us
to return to the land the means of future fer
tilization which they are capable of yielding,
then we may retain and sustain the degree of
fertility which we obtained by temporary ar
tificia aids.
THEY DO NOT EXHAUST LAND.
We hear it often said, that special manures
tend to exhaust land. / tell YOU manurcs
never exhaust land. 1t is the crops, which
the manures enable you to take from the
SOIL which exhaust it. five sell these off
from the farm, returning nothing in their
place. the land is, sure enough, in fair way
to run down; and the more it produces, after
this fashion, the faster it will run down. But
II we will deal honestly with it, first convert
ing the crops into meat and milk and wool,
and manure, and then save the manure and
apply 1t, thus returning II fair proportion of
what we have taken from the soil we NAV
have, for our own use, OF to sell, all which
has been contributed to the crops from the at
mosphere and from the dews and rains of
heaven, and besides this, aporton also of the
ash constituents of the plants grown, these
being annually liberated from the hidden.