212 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



lectual machinery of farmers so likely to occur, will be less preceptible. There 

 are periods in the history of every country when the study of agriculture 

 becomes more urgent. A step upward is necessary to reacli the level of other 

 industries. That point is now reached by the farmers of America. The pur- 

 suit of agriculture is the only occupation in which no special training is con- 

 sidered necessary. This is the more surprising when we consider that out of 

 the pupils of our common schools, more than fifty per cent of them will 

 become farmers, yet no special effort is made to fit them to worthily fill their 

 places, but instead, the entire influence, in so far as their studies can influence 

 them, is directed toward some other occupation. 



The study of chemistry is popularly supposed to belong to and be an adjunct 

 of the sciences only, and, indeed, it has long been the servant of these higher 

 studies. That it is the right hand supporter of agriculture would not be 

 credited by farmers generally. Agricultural chemistry introduced into the 

 common schools and made a part of the every day tasks for the term, would not 

 only be very interesting to farmers' boys and girls, but would lay the foundation 

 for such practical knowledge of farming as would tell in future years, and 

 help out in solving the intricate questions of to-day. It would explain the 

 chara|terof soils, and analyze their parts. It would tell how crops grow and 

 feed, and teach what was necessary to their perfect development. It would 

 explain why a potato sprout in a cellar is used as a simile for the weakling of 

 the family, and why it climbs so high to reach the light. It would give the 

 necessary healthy condition of soil to produce maximum crops, and indicate 

 the degree of maturity at which plants should arrive before they are secured 

 and stored. These questions are now vague guesses at the best, with ninety- 

 nine out of every one hundred farmers in the State, while they are all sup- 

 posed to know something of the practice of mercantile life, and the elements 

 of practice in the business of almost every other profession. The success 

 which has attended the growing of flowers from seeds on school grounds, 

 where the teacher has evinced sufficient interest in the enterprise to secure the 

 seeds, is proof that botany as a study would be a success. Much praise is 

 due Secretary Garfield, of the State Horticultural Society, for this, the first 

 innovation in the old routine of the last forty years. 



Every influence attendant upon the schools is to create the impression that 

 education has for its ultimate aim, the making a profession of some kind the 

 business of life, and farmers hang their heads in the presence of such men, 

 from the conviction fastened upon them in early life, that the doctors, law- 

 yers, and divines have achieved success, while they have not. Let education 

 be turned, especially in the common schools, toward making farmers out of 

 farmers' children. Teach them that an educated farmer is as much a success 

 as an educated lawyer, and entitled to the same consideration, both socially 

 and politically. Show them that it is of as much importance to know the 

 component parts of the earth beneath their feet, as to know the countries 

 meet in their order in a circuit of the earth. If it is essential to know some- 

 thing of the structure of man and of animals, it is quite as important to 

 know how plants are built up, upon what they feed, and why they fail and 

 die. If the trick of conjugating a verb can be learned, agricultural chem- 

 istry can be understood, and what is better, become of practical value. 



