The earliness of crops is much accelerated by the application of thoroughly decomposed manure at the time of sowing; the matters for absorption are thus presented in a highly concentrated form to the roots, and the plants more speedily arrive at maturity. Much also depends on the state of the soil at the time of sowing. It is surprising that so little attention is given to draining by those who are interested in securing early crops; drained ground is always in a fit condition for working much sooner than that undrained. Draining, also, by the greater efficiency it confers on water as a solvent of plant food, increases the available supply of the soil, and the rapidity of this supply depends upon the aggregate surface of particles presented to the dissolving agent. Reduce a soil, therefore, and the roots of plants will have an increased pasturage. Hence the benefit of repeated culture, such as digging, forking, hoeing, etc, and hence, also, the beneficial influence of frosts on soil. Frost is not a fertilizer, but as water expands in freezing, and as the crystals of ice pervade the entire substance, a diminution of the particles follows after thawing, increasing the soluble surface.

So far from diminishing the necessity of applying manures, the increased power of manufacture thus conferred on the soil must be accompanied by an increased supply of the raw material, if a permanent benefit is to be realized.