318 [Senate 



important, though referring more directly or exclusively to the at- 

 tainment of present profit, than to the improvement of the soil: 



A very liberal use of seed in sowing all kinds of grain and in seed- 

 ing down to grass. 



A " thorough going" mode of operation in plowing, in getting in 

 crops, and in the subsequent culture. 



The use of labor saving implements and machines. 



Economy in the appropriation of labor and of every other produ- 

 cing means — and 



Method — By which the application of these means may be most 

 advantageously affected. 



The former of these two last mentioned principles clearly incul- 

 cates the utility of instituting experiments, to prove the comparative 

 advantages of different kinds of crops, or of the different varieties 

 of the same kind, or of the different modes of treatment employed 

 in the cultivation of the same crop, and accordingly this practice 

 constitutes a distinct feature of my system. That kind of experience 

 which every farmer ordinarily acquires, without the formality of 

 direct experiment, is certainly of much value. It is indeed suf- 

 ficient, or it should be, to correct many of the grosser errors 

 of his management; but it is also certain, that many small errors 

 may still exist, which this kind of experience is wholly inadequate 

 to detect. 



For example, there are some kinds of potatoes so nearly equal in 

 quality and productiveness, that many farmers plant either one or the 

 other, as best suits their convenience; while one plants this kind only 

 and another only that. So also in respect to the cultivation — some 

 plant in hills and some in drills; some plant the tubers whole, others in 

 " setts," and others still the " seed end" only; v/hile many others 

 find so little difference in the comparative results, that either mode is 

 adopted, as fancy or circumstance at the time suggest. Now it can- 

 not be that all these modes of cultivation, or different kinds of seed, 

 are equally good. The difference in any given instance may be small, 

 and yet it may be sufficient to effect quite materially the nett profits 

 accruing from the crop. But these or similar remarks will also ap- 

 ply to almost every other crop; and hence, these "small differences" 

 may amount in the aggregate to a fearful drawback on the farmer's 

 gains. For such a result I know of no other remedy than the one 

 just proposed; and even this can be of no service except it be judi- 

 ciously applied. Hundreds of such experiments which have been 

 attempted have turned out total failures, simply because of imperfec- 

 tion in the experiments themselves. To be of any possible service, 

 such experiments must be both correci!/^ designed and accurately con- 

 ducted. A want of unity in the design, is the more common cause 

 of failure, and hence the liabilty of erring on this hand requires a 

 double guard. 



In my own practice, it is made an invariable rule, that in all 

 experiments the two rival parties shall enjoy equality of circum- 

 stances, or unity of condition, in every respect excepting that only on 

 which the competition depends. To illustrate by example, if I wished 



