188 BOAPvD OF AGEICULTURE. 



made with a single cent of profit. But he followed them up, 

 watched them, kept analyzing their manufactures, and it was 

 but a very short time, certainly not three years, before he 

 found samples of Coe's superphosphate, which he took out of 

 the packages on sale, which were not worth, by his analysis, 

 one-quai-ter the price they were sold for. Now just look at the 

 fraud, — the fraud not only in the loss of money to the farm- 

 ers, but the loss of the use of land, labor and time ; and 

 very likely the whole of that manufacture was of that quality. 

 I am not speaking of the present quality of Coe's superphos- 

 phate ; that is not the point at all. This is only an illustra- 

 tion to show that, after all, even the most celebrated manu- 

 facturers cannot be relied upon. Positive knowledge is our 

 only effectual security. You might just as well come and 

 ask me to leave my doors unlocked, or to move my prop- 

 erty out into the street, relying on the common honesty of 

 mankind for its safety, as to let this business of manufacturing 

 commercial fertilizers go on as it has gone. It is just like the 

 liquor-business. Do you suppose there is a liquor-dealer who 

 never watered his liquors ? I do not. It is too much for 

 human nature to stand, you know. I have as much faith in 

 mankind, I hope, as other men. I try to be charitable and 

 reasonable, but there are certain chances to defraud which you 

 cannot permit a man to enjoy safely. Among these are the 

 chances of the horse-jockey, the liquor-dealer and the com- 

 mercial-fertilizer manufacturer. 



One word now in regard to what my friend Lewis says. I 

 do not want him to go away from Barre differing from me. 

 He looks to me like a fighting-man, whom it would not be 

 safe to meddle with, and I want to make up with him right on 

 the spot. Mr. Lewis and I will not differ at all about this 

 matter. The point I make is this : that it is not in the power 

 of any farmer in this Commonwealth to make an experiment 

 in regard to commercial fertilizers that shall have the value of 

 an experiment made by scientific men. He says we have got 

 to adapt our knowledge to our locality. I have heard that a 

 great many times about the Agricultural College. It has 

 been said, 3'ou may make the best practical farmers on that 

 farm, and they will go off somewhere else and starve to death. 

 That is all a fallacy. What we undertake to teach is the 



