Trans. N. Y. Ac. Sci. 16 Oct. 29, 



in Cuba ; the subdivision of its area into small plots ; the plan of 

 bookkeeping, carried on for many years, by which a careful account is 

 kept of the treatment of each plot, the fertilizers added, the products 

 received, and its general condition. He then gave an account of 

 an important and very costly series of experiments, carried on un- 

 der his direction, to determine the chemical composition of the soil 

 and sub-soil, at various locations and depths, of the cane at vari- 

 ous stages of -growth, and of the fertilizers required to bring up 

 the entire area to the best agricultural condition. One important 

 result was the recognition of the fact that the most important constit- 

 uent of the soil, soonest exhausted by the cane, was phosphoric acid ; 

 and satisfactory results had already been obtained by the addition of 

 this substance to the soil. The experiments were still in progress on 

 a large scale. 



DISCUSSION. 



Prof. W. P. Trowbridge stated that on a recent journey, in com- 

 pany with Prof. J. D. Dana, the latter expressed the view — with which 

 his own coincided — that, of the coming great scientific discoveries, the 

 greatest would be in the application of chemistry to agriculture. The 

 present influence of a scientific school or society, of greatest impor- 

 tance, consisted in the diffusion of scientific facts among the farmers 

 of the country. 



Rev. G. L. Shearer remarked that a system and means provided 

 in this direction lies in the Grange associations, now comprising a 

 million and a half of members throughout the land. Some of these 

 give attention to reforms in political matters, but much has also been 

 done by others in regard to scientific education of the agricultural 

 community, partly by the appointment of lecturers (chiefly through 

 the Pomona Grange), who discuss many points of a scientific char- 

 acter. For instance, he had visited, last summer, a Grange meeting 

 in Pennsylvania, which had been attended by thirty-five thousand 

 people during the session of a week. It possessed various depart- 

 ments, one of which was a school, in which such subjects as the needs 

 of particular soils, the fertilizers required, etc., were discussed ; this 

 practically amounted to a summer school of agricultural philosophy, 

 and was of the greatest service to the farmers present. 



The President observed that the scientific interest and practical 

 benefit of the experiments conducted by Dr. Ledoux were so demon- 

 strable that their continuance was highly desirable. In this country 

 we have still so much virgin soil that the proper appreciation of the 

 work of the agricultural chemist must come later. He had himself 

 followed the march of empire westward, and the progress of the farmers 



