186 WE3T OXFORD SOCIETY. 



The science of chemistry pointed out a pile of human bones on 

 the battle ground of Waterloo, and shiploads were transported to 

 England, and what were not suitable to grind into flour for the poor 

 sailor's bread,* were ground up into manure to enrich the wheit fields 

 of Great Britain. It has shown to the farmer the value of those 

 immense piles of guano, the accumulations of thousands of years. 

 It has brought to light immense beds of phosphate of lime, where- 

 with to renovate the worn out lands of New England. It teaches 

 you that a block of granite, well pulverized, contains all the essential 

 mineral elements of a good soil. It teaches you this vei-y important 

 law, that every good soil must contain a certain amount of dead 

 vegetable or animal matter. It will teach you what was never 

 thought of a century ago, that a large portion of the woody fibre 

 of plants is obtained from the atmosphere. It teaches you how to 

 arrest fermentation in your manures, and how to promote it when- 

 ever necessary. It will teach you when to make use of old and well 

 rotted manures, and when green manures. It will unfold to you 

 the laws of rotation of crops, a most important subject and one in 

 which much is yet to be learned. It will point out to you most 

 beautifully the laws by which your animals are fattened on particu- 

 lar kinds of food. 



The old adage, help yourself, and Heaven will help you, is true 

 in chemistry. A healthy giowing plant will not only make use of 

 the manure placed beneath it, but w\\\ absorb with true chemical 

 zeal the gases that escape from a neighbor's manure heap. Chemis- 

 try wastes nothing. Those oLl bones now lying by the fence will 

 make phosphate of lime, and if you cannot conveniently dissolve 

 them, you. can put them beneath an apple tree, or a grape-vine, 

 where they will serve a useful purpose. 



Among the apparently trivial objects that should more engage 

 the farmer's attention is the study of the habits of the various de- 

 structive insects. It is a noticeable fact, that they become more 

 annoying from year to year, while there is a profound ignorance of 

 their habits, or of the best methods of getting rid of them. The 

 science of entomology has been studied as yet only by the scientific 

 man, and the results of his labors have not yet been but little felt 

 by the farmer. - ' 



I have met with many men who did not know where to look for 



