New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4908, 14 December 1876, Page 4

New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14.

Unquestionably one of' the most import.ant'matters’ which can occupy the attention of a community is the cultivation of tb'e ■ soils ■'; This ' is a: fact so universally recognised, 1 that it may seem unnecessary, and superfluous to give, expression to it. From the earliest ages, at least from the time When man emerged .from the savage and nomadic state, the productions of the earth,, as a. means of supporting life,;have engaged his . attention. The earliest record admitted by. .Ohristiansn clearly -proves/ not; indeed . .purposely/ but not the less effectually, that man in hia ■ primeval 1 state iwas taught to ; I6ok: for snbalstehce : to the fruits of'the earth. According .to this account/the first pair lived'upon the productions' ‘of .the "garden, and .one of their immediate posterity was a tiller ,of : the soil.' '"'And whatever may be, thoprer sent.state'of scientific',opinion,.^B.,.to the! aiiticpiity of man, an inquiry,'.by the way, into.which. it is not our business. to .enter, n these writings indicate, that at the earliest period j of. human; history of" which they take i cognisance, man 'was ffully alive to’ the importance 2 -of ' the soil as. a means of supplying his wants, true, * n the' early -history of mankiiid their wants were'few and■ simple; as 'th’eir^implements', of hua-, bandry were rude, and barbarous... . As th'e'raoe increased . in, numbers/, and. advanced in social atatiis, its. wants increased; also i and,'more attention l»egan necessarily - to; be . : paid, ,to the land... Menr began to .consideriho.w. the;earth could'be made' to' yield her. increase; ;in; the "greatest'abundance/ andi-at the least possible .trouble' 'and'expense.' Here’ then we have, in its. : first dawnings, the fundamental principle ofj agricultural’science. At this early .period, as in new colonies now, man - had a virgin soil/ richly impregnated'with the elements of vegetation,'and which nbedod only to be planted ' with', seed .t.o bring forth its latent energies; Trees, . grasses,:' 'and other herbaceous plants when per-., mitted to. grow ,nninoles,ted enrich , the" soil.: Deciduous. 1 trees’ ..shed' their, leave's, ' '£nd ~.^evergreens;- tlieir bark,' grasses - decay;, and .perennial,; plants' die ’ after . coming • to maturity., - All .these, decaying substances combine' .to form.a .vegetable mould/"which'in!process.pf' time .increases in thickness/ 1 and 'remaina a’reserve, stored- up' r in' .nature’s' storehouse, for the "supply of fqtnre,‘generations. 1 Rivera and streams' also por--form'their part in the eboniomy of nature,. by : denuding, the Aides of steep ipoun-. 'tains,' and .bringing, the" various, sorta„o£ 'soils together,../and;, intermixing! .them upon the lower levels,: These, .-.mountain torrents,, ■ m, ;their . headlong course! down, thb steep ..declivities,/detach particles of

earth, jwhibli i are suspension or solution; 1 /'and''bVing-' them ; W the plains below; ’<> Here ■ tW. paters:spread but, their cbrirWis' retarded, p and Vine earthy pVtycies/fall to’.the 'bottdin. ...The!,result a'mingling'.of'' ( Soils' from “ spots'perhaps,',^hundreds, .of /miles apart,; t apd jn.ilie course• of centuries, a deposit,/of .'alluvial...is• formed; which, according ,'to Dr.- Johnson, is !the richest and most- enduring .of uall. The great river of Egypt is a! well-known instance of this. And although we are told that the-fertility of the 'Delta of the Nile has been very much exaggerated, yet from a time far beyond the .period, of written history /it' has continued to supply, the wants of untold' millions who have dwelt in its vicinity. In this. way, when new lands are occupied in favorable situations, they contain within.themselves an abundance.of those (elements, which Constitute the r food of plants ;and the ; original occupier- of the soil has a, fund upon which' he: can‘draw,'with; little expense to himself j when the l first difficulties of reclama-tion-and cultivation are overcome. Thus the cultivator'ofthe'soil ina new colony oocupiesa position immeasurably superior, in''SO far - as - natural advantages are concerned,' over his brother in an old, established community. -/But experience has long .since, taught us that this state of ~ ■ pristine; - - fertility .does ■ not last for -ever. The various food- -plants grown by ■ the farmer and the - gardener subsist for ' the >: * most part upon 1 - the -vegetable' matter in . the' soil 1 ; 'but succeeding crops'■ rob it of its -fertility, and the land becomes impoverished. 1 ;This is, after all, but a,,natural - consequence.' " We can remember ,in ; Aus-- ! tratia' and; ,'else.where .-seeing, fields ■; of, exr heeding fertility when; first brought under I the but,- which by, constant and iindiscriminate cropping became less ’fer-' jtile./-In America, tod, Dr. Johnson, the (authority before referred, to; speaks of (whole- tracts ■ of country ‘ being, rendered ■unproductive by ,reason of the improvi!dent system 'of farming adopted by the iearly I 'settlers. And'the process of . reinyigbrating these exhausted lands. was both ‘slow and. .costly. Europe, too, has suffered more or less from a similar cause, professor Liebig, in his admirable work 'on-scientific agriculture, says — 1 ‘To main-tain/the-richness of- the soil, and toper-’ petuate its./crop-producing; capabilities, - we must put into the ■ soil what the crops - take-out;” The practice of manuring, land, so long- followed in the older co'un- ■ juries of Europe, is intended to answer this end; Science has done, much to en- ' lighten the farmer, on this-all important pointy both as to the nature-of- the soils, best'suited for .various cropSj and the description- of manure, most adapted for them., -In ,England, Scotland, and Bel-gium-agricultural science'has attained-to - a i-state -of perfection probably never - before 1 heard of. 'The scientific 1 agricul•turisti of these-.countries,;of the present day; is as far in advance of the rough farmer of two -centuries ago. as a state of civilisation is superior to savage life. We have before, in these- columns, when-treating-.of kindred , subjects; to the pre-i -sent, spoken of the exceeding ricli•pess of the soil of the-greater part of Now Zealand; Our people should not be plow-to learn-from the experience of other ■ countries,- arid not exhaust the soil by - successive cropping;-and thus ultimately ! render it ' unproductive ; ■ but continue to return: .to it,- in some form or other,’ the. essential elements of fer-. tillity.' To take higher f ground than :mere -present convenience. ( It, may be--questioned.whether,, we- are justified, in .the light of posterity, to continue robbing -the -earth .--of/-ita/llife-sustaining . -elements,-because we find them ready to .our hand.- - It is - satisfactory to observe - that (attention -is being 1 ' drawn' to/this, subject in'the’colonies;- and that attempts, are-being- made, and successfully too, to - aVert the evil we deprecate. .New Zealand .is too young a colony to have suffered severely from this/spoliation,of her soil..' It ispiore on the principle that , -‘f prevention., is better -than. cure,” - that, i we.,have- been induoed to make. the fore- . going remarks. The proposal to establish .a; school of agriculture and model farm in (connection with the Christchurch College ; -is ■ a'step ' in the right direction ; and although we have riiore than once ,ex- - pressed our, disapproval of the rich 'endowments' enjoyed by, that institution, we ..cannot .but rejoice, at a, proposal to use a portion of those endowments for a purpose.so obviously for the public good.The formation of - agricultural -associations , ,in'various parts of the colony will also be , productive-of much'good, by improving - the - implements of husbandry and- diffusing scientific knowledge; For-some ■years past Victoria has had her ’departmorit 'of agriculture, with a European professor, for. chief secretary. She has also a model,farm fof experimental .purposes... Various soils'and manures/are subjected, to analysis, - to, -show the suitability/or otherwise of the one;for the other..-. Some time-since aisuggestion was made in the Tasmanian.- Legislature to compel the teachers of -public: schools topass an- examination in- -scientific " agriculture, - in order-that - the ■ elements of • the science might be taught-‘in. the public schools of that- colony; but 1 - .we have not heard - whether .the; suggestion . has been- car-, ried ini-o .effect. The /Government of India, has , spent £20,000,000 in - gigantic works- of irrigation, which- have proved wbrso: than useless. - Had one-fourth of. • that,-sum i been spent/in-/ well-directed efforts, to-instruct the illiterate peasantry of that -country-in the first principles of -modern sdence and a modern system of -farmirig;’ much disappointment would have been avoided and real good effected.