142 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



the product of the land; the debt must be paid, or we lose our credit, 

 and the land becomes bankrupt; the soil demands an equivalent for 

 every pound of grain taken from it. " Coming events cast their shad- 

 ows before them." It requires not the vision of the seer to perceive 

 that the near future will tax the full capacity of all the tillable lands 

 of California to support their occupants and supply the increasing 

 wants of our manufactures and commerce. England, with her popu- 

 lation of forty million, raising but about one half of her requisite 

 cereals, looks lo the United States to assist in supplying the deficiency. 

 The overcrowded Orient, with her teeming millions, depends upon 

 the Pacific Slope as her granary. Until recently France supplied the 

 world with wine. The product of her vintage, put into forty-gallon 

 casks of ordinary form and placed end to end, would encircle the 

 globe. To-day the ravages of the phylloxera have so seriously 

 affected this product that the world looks chiefly to California as 

 its future source of supply. The grape here, under intelligent cul- 

 ture, can be made to exceed in quantity the greatest yield of France. 

 To meet these multiform requirements is the mission of the tillers 

 of the soil. A thorough knowledge of the art and science of agricul- 

 ture in all its varied branches is indispensable to the farmer. To 

 develop from seed and soil the maximum value of useful plants and 

 useful animals at minimum cost, cannot be accomplished unless the 

 farmer shall have a clear and comprehensive understanding of the 

 nature of those materials and agencies which produce the plants and 

 increase his herds. He must be able to determine whether the soil 

 he tills is defective, and how he can best remedy it. He must be able 

 to supply what food the plant lacks, whether ammonia, or a phos- 

 phate, or water, or other substance. If water is needed, irrigation 

 must be used ; if there is too much water, the land must be drained. 

 It is the province of agricultural chemistry to determine the faults 

 and point out the remedies. It acquaints us with the fittest food for 

 each of the useful plants and useful animals; what plants are 

 exhaustive and what enriching to the soil; how best to resuscitate a 

 soil depleted by the removal of crops, and how to keep it in a healthy 

 condition at minimum cost; what food is best calculated to build up 

 the animal frame, clothe it with muscle, cartilage, nerve, and flesh, 

 for the purposes of fleetness or labor, or for milk and fattening. It 

 acquaints us with the physical conditions of the soil, with respect to 

 the degrees of subdivisions, porosity, dryness, and depth most favor- 

 able to the application of fertilizers and to vegetable growth. It 

 acquaints us with the best methods of manufacturing bone and other 

 materials into valuable manures, and with the best means of util- 

 izing the sewerage and refuse of cities, and all matter possessing fer- 

 tilizing properties. Agricultural chemistry embraces a wide range 

 of natural sciences in its application to vegetable and animal pro- 

 ductions, it is one of the useful sciences developed in the last fifty 

 years. Prejudice against innovation has delayed a full enjoyment of 

 the benefits agricultural chemistry is capable of conferring, but 

 " truth is mighty and will prevail." Agricultural chemistry rests 

 upon a firm foundation and ranks among the most useful of modern 

 sciences. It is the farmer's best friend, whose virtues he should fairly 

 understand and cherish. 



The world has designated medicine, law, and divinity as the learned 

 professions, but it is fast finding out that it requires full as much 

 talent and severe study to acquire a proficiency in the art and science 



