art and practice of agriculture, he too often gets led away by some irresponsible will-o'-the-wisp, in the shape of some glib-tongued theorist, who seeks a remedy for short crops and poor prices in such cabala as reciprocity, free-trade, protection, reduction of railway rates, and so on.
There is a certain text in an old-fashioned book which will persist in forcing itself on my memory when I hear the plausible specifics of such Sangrados. It is one of those proverbs which the scribes of Hezekiah copied out, and it is well worthy the attention of every farmer. It is a promise and a warning, which is peculiarly applicable to Australian farmers in the present juncture. It is this: "He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread; but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough."
When coffee in Ceylon was blasted by the blight which ruined more than half the planters, and nearly wrecked the prosperity of the island, what has been the result? It was seen how dangerous it was to rely on any one staple; how important not to have all the eggs of national prosperity in one basket. Now Ceylon is entering on a new and extended lease of renewed vigour and prosperity. Tea, cinchona, india-rubber, cocoa, and other products are yielding splendid returns, and much of this resuscitated life and reawakened enterprise is due to the experimental gardens, and the work which has been done by planters and others in acclimatizing new plants and trying new products.
