PLANT-FOOD AND AGRICULTURE. 231 



them in combination, as in ammoniated superphosphate, animal 

 fertilizers, or Peruvian guano. Oftentimes they may be procured 

 in a local waste, as in the refuse of powder factories, of woolen 

 mills, etc.; often, indeed, la purchasing dung, for, be it remem- 

 bered, the agricultural value of all fertilizers, including dung, is 

 largely in the pi ant- food they contain. 



We have now completed the line of thought which we laid out 

 at the commencement, but we cannot close without a brief reca- 

 pitulation of a few of the points that are certainly true. First, 

 that it is the plant-food which concerns the farmer, not the name. 

 Second, that chemicals are capable of being profitably used on the 

 farm. Third, that the good farmer can afford to buy and use 

 fertilizers whenever he desires to till more land than his dung-heap 

 will admit of his doing. 



One word more. Scientific farming, the bugbear of the practi- 

 cal man — what is it? Why, only this, and nothing more. The 

 applying of knowledge gained from experience in an understand- 

 ing way. Is there anything very bad about this ? The man who 

 knows what to expect from his acts, of necessity acts with more 

 advantage than the man who acts at hap-hazard, and trusts to 

 Providence. 



This paper, friends, was written for a purpose. Not only to 

 show what may be expected from the judicious teachings of 

 science, as demonstrated by practice ; not only to point out to 

 you additional ways of deriving more profit from farming, but for 

 a personal reason in addition. By some, by many parties who 

 have read my writings with too little care, I have been classed as 

 a disciple of a certain theory, which has occupied much of the 

 public attention for the past few years. I desire to put my own 

 views on record, in order that you all, who are interested, may see 

 just what my views are on this important subject of fertilizers and 

 fertilization. I desire it to be plainly understood that I am the 

 disciple of no one theory or set of theories but my own, which are 

 deduced from the actual facts of experiment and research, as I 



A second sample of hot fermenting horse-dung, emitting a strong and pungent smell, 

 contained in like manner 0.049 per cent, of free ammonia in .98 lb., which would be 

 worth, if all lost, 39 2-10 cts. per ton of dung Yet as this dung is soon cooled, when 

 spread, and the land is obsorptive, would indicate a loss in practice, too small to be 

 t£.ken into consideration when the increased economy of spreading dung when convenient, 

 instead of a fixed time, is taken into consideration. 



In ordinary barn manure, the loss would be even less than here represented. 



