GV)2 KKl'UKT (»K (IKFICE OF EXrEKlMENT ST \TlONS. 



position iiiul i)roi)('rties of bodies, and the chaiij^es which take place be- 

 tween the ])artick^sof matter at insensibh> distances from each other." 



Tlie next work is Doctor Rod<>-ers\s, of Rochester, N. Y., published 

 in 1848, and a s(H-ond edition in 1S5(). It is a most complete and sys- 

 tematic presentation of the applied-science idea, niiniini;- thronj^h 

 chemistry, geology, ))otany, and meteorology; and it ends with an 

 attempt to present at^ricultural sul)jects. The hiohly iiiuminc.'d s3an- 

 bolic frontispiece well represents the animus of the work — a scroll 

 reaching- from the electric heavens l^earinj^ the words "Chemistry, 

 botany, meteorology, agriculture. " 



A great advance was made by Professor Norton's Elements of Sci- 

 entitic Agriculture, 1850. Here there was a distinct and successful 

 attempt to appi'oach the su))iect from the agricultural view })oint, 

 exphiining rural practices l)y the applications of science. But even 

 here the advice was very largely chemical. This was not a fault fifty 

 years ago, ])ut it seems to be a shortcoujing when it is used in books 

 of the present day. 



In 1851 the reading-book idea, apparently dormant since Adams 

 and Tajdor's time, came forward in Rev. John L. Blake's Lessons in 

 Modern Farming. This book differed widely from Taylor's, however, 

 in the fact that it presents the subject from the literary side, whereas 

 the earlier book presented it f ronj the science and farm-practice side. 

 Blake had a great intellectual interest in rural life, as evidenced })y 

 his Farm and Fireside, 1852, and Farmer's Every-Day Book, and The 

 Farmer at Home. 



Wariug's excellent Elements of Agriculture, 1854, reminds one of 

 Norton's book, although it is written more completely from the chem- 

 ical point of view. The revision is dated 1868, but the general line of 

 treatment remains the same; the author writes that "the observation 

 and experience of the intervening years have sadly clouded some of 

 these fancies (of the original edition), and the veil which hangs about 

 the true theories of agriculture has grown harder to penetrate; the 

 difficulties in the way of precise knowledge have not lessened with close 

 acquaintance." This frank admission is the indisputable mark of the 

 honest searcher for truth. It also suggests the inherent weakness of 

 the attempt to teach agriculture under the guise of an exact physical 

 science. To those who have learned to honor the name of Colonel 

 Waring as that of a practical sanitary engineer and an efficient public 

 servant, these references to his early labors in the agricultural field 

 will afford a new source of pleasure. 



Fox's American Text-Book, Detroit, 1854, has the distinction of 

 being the first text published west of New York State. The chemical 

 features are strong, even in the discussion of the particular crops. It 

 goes into the methods of growing the leading crops with considerable 

 fullness. 



