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Lessons on the Phenomena of Industrial Life [by W. Ellis] Ed. by R. Dawes
Lessons on the Phenomena of Industrial Life Ed by R Dawes - by W. Ellis Author:William Ellis General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1861 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: LESSON IV. WEALTH. An attentive survey of the whole catalogue of things in use to sustain and adorn existence, will convince ua how small a portion of them is obtainable without labour in alliance with knowledge, skill, and economy. The earth we stand upon, the air we breathe, the water we drink, and much besides, are, it is true, no products of human labour; nor does man's labour, as far as we know, add to or subtract from the weight or dimensions of the earth, or alter the number or proportion of the elements of which it is constituted. The clear perception of what man really does, when he produces, will well repay a small outlay of attention and reflection. When it is said that man produces, it must not be supposed that he creates by his labour. He cultivates the ground; that is, he breaks it up, he manures it, and he sows it. He may do all these things, and obtain a crop or fail to 'obtain one, according to his knowledge of and attention to the natural adaptation of climate and soil to the growth of the particular plant from which he hopes to gather in a crop. His labour having been directed with the requisite knowledge and skill, the seed germinates because the appropriate moisture and temperature are at hand to promote germination; and the plant grows vigorously, because the gases and salts out of which its substance has to bo built up abound in the soil where the seed is sown. It thus appears, that, for a farmer to produce or to cultivate successfully, his business is tomove the ground, to apply the manure, and to sow the seed. These works of the farmer have then to await the action of that v...« less