18G STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



to agriculture, with such force and ability by men of experience, it would seem 

 that nothing more could be said upon the subject. 



The agricultural papers have long discussed tliis question of science in its 

 relation to agriculture, or agriculture as a science. 



Books have been multiplied upon all the questions that conic iiudcr this 

 important theme, and we might safely infer that the success of the farmer lies 

 only in following those plans that are in harmony witli fixed laws. 



It is not my purpose to dwell at length upon tliis question ; time will not 

 permit : but only to direct your attention to a few facts and suggestions, to 

 illustrate wiiat I present for your consideration. 



AVhon the pioneers began to clear the forest, it was only necessary to lightly 

 stir the vegetable mould, that the grain could get a hold, and a remunerative 

 crop was sure to follow. But as this virgin soil became exhausted by contin- 

 ued cropping, something more became necessary in order to realize a fair com- 

 pensation for the labor. 



In these times of rapid progress in all the arts and sciences, giving us such a 

 variety of farm machinery adapted to increase the amount of work performed 

 for the time expended, there is no reason why the farm should not be in a bet- 

 ter state of cultivation, and the returns be more remunerative than formerly. 

 Our farms are our homes, — it is iierc we spend our days, — it is here we gain 

 our living, and while one-half of the world is thus providing for its temporal 

 necessities, the otlier half is anxiously looking to see whether we have bread 

 and to spare ; for upon the success of the farmer depends the prosperity of 

 the country. Our aim should be to so increase our farm productions that we 

 may have the means to improve our farms, and adorn our homes. Every one 

 is aware that a piece of clay or loamy soil plowed while wet is very hard and 

 impervious to water or the roots of plants when it becomes dry, and as plants 

 will not grow in soil in that condition, the only economical remedy is under- 

 draining. This plan has not been followed by farmers as generally as it 

 should. The reason, "I cannot afford the expense." One of the best farmers 

 in Seneca county, N. Y., and a pioneer in tile underdraining (Mr. John John- 

 sou), always argued that whenever land needed underdraining, the extra yield 

 of the first crop after often would pay all the expense of the outlay ; and I 

 doubt not, some that are here can corroberate this assertion. To dry a heavy 

 soil by evaporation or by a common method of furrow-draining, the absorbing 

 properties of tlie soil that arc essential to bring nutriment to the fibrous roots 

 of plants are destroyed, and the elements so necessary to plant growth are 

 excluded. And this fact is also true, that if a plant is dwarfed for want of 

 root-sustenance, its enfeebled state so weakens its leaf-absorbing powers to drink 

 in the gases so necessary to its development, that failure and disappointment 

 is the reward of the farmer. On every soil it is necessary that the surplus 

 water should be filtered tlirough, by so doing the soil is left porous, and what- 

 ever foreign substance it may contain is left for plant growth. Air and heat 

 being as necessary for root-growth in cultivated plants as top-growth, a loose, 

 friable soil is the best. No other occu})ation calls into requisition so many of 

 the natural sciences as the farmers'. And yet, few appear to realize that his 

 work has any connection whatever with science. In buying a piece of land, we 

 examine (unconscious it may be) its geological formation. Whether the soil is 

 of such a character that in its connection witli the sub-soil it appears to be 

 composed almost entirely of inorganic matter, as clay, sand, etc., we call it a 

 poor soil. Oil the other hand, if it api)cars to be almost entirely of organic 



