STATE IIORTirUI/rrRAL SOCIETY. 26 



culturist. But shall we qiuiil before himy Shall we admit that the 

 limit has been reached in the hun)aii control of the «^reat force which 

 is the cause of all meteorohi^ical ))henomenay Such an admission 

 would be at variance with the records of i)ast achievements in science, 

 and with the universal law of development. We have seen that each 

 step taken in scientific progress ])repares the way for another; each 

 fielil exi)lored o])ens the way to other and richer fields beyond. 



These considerations should ins})ire us with hope that the limit of 

 control which man has assumed over tlu' vai-ious forms of force will 

 not be reached until it is made subservient to his will in enabling him 

 to secure witli aluiost absolute certainty a remuneration for his lal)or 

 in the fruits of the earth. Acceleration in the j^rowth and ripening 

 of fruits and vegetables, by means of currents of electricity artifi- 

 cially directed through the soil in which they grow, has been many 

 times achieved: and although this mode has not. as yet, proved an 

 economical one, yet these experiments are indexes in the direction of 

 progress, inasmuch as they prove the direct agency of this form of 

 force in preparing the chemical constituents of the soil for immedi- 

 ate use in plant growth. 



It seemed to me that the key-note of progress in this direction 

 was struck when, many years since, Prof. J. B. Turner announced in 

 the hearing of many of us his belief in the unifij o^ force; and this 

 note was echoed, years afterwards, by eastern scientists in the 

 announcement of the correlation of forces (or dilferent forms of 

 force); and still later in that of the conservation of electric energy 

 by human devices. 



In my haste i long since said, *' I hope to live to see the day. 

 when, through the agency of ap]diances suggested by these import- 

 ant discoveries, our fruits, trees and ])lants may be produced in perfec- 

 tion with a certainty which will almost set at defiance the meteoro- 

 logical lions which ever and anon cross our j)ath and defeat our 

 purposes."" 



Hut the hope of pecuniary advantage in this direction has not 

 been as fiattering as in others, and, consequently, investigation here 

 has lagged, and experiments have been almost discontinued. But 

 when our streets and homes are lighted, our Hres kindled, our 

 vehicles and nuichinery all moved by that which is the canst' or ante- 

 cedent of light, heat and motion, then nuiv we reasonably hope, 

 scientists will turn their attention more in the direction of our be- 

 loved art; or, which will be far better, the nature of force will have 

 become so generally understood by intelligent peo])le. and devices for 

 controlling and directing it ljec(nne so simplified and cheapened tiiat 

 success in horticulture will become the rule and failure the rare 

 exception. 



But the time for this happy consummation of our hopes may 

 not he in tiie ;*^f/;' future, and we should not idly wait its slow evolu- 

 tion. 



