

456 State Board of Agriculture, &c. 



planets in theii* courses and peoples the immensity of space 

 with its countless systems of worlds. 



WHAT WE CAN UNDERSTAND. 



Though it is not for us to comprehend the original source 

 of these laws of nature, w^e can observe their operation and 

 determine their effects. It is ours to understand and apply 

 such of them as may contribute to our success ; to trace the 

 relation between causes and effects, which these laws have 

 made inevitable ; to so arrange and control those causes and 

 conditions wliich we can influence that the desired effects 

 may follow. 



MECHANICS. 



It is ours to understand those mechanical laws which apply 

 to the construction and use of those appliances which an 

 advanced and progressive agriculture demands, that wemay 

 judge correctly of the principles upon which our farm ma- 

 chinery is constructed, that there may be no unnecessary 

 waste of power, and that we may discover the defects, if 

 any, in its proportions and mechanism. 



METEOROLOGY. 



It is practicable tor us to understand those meteorological 

 laws which prevail in the atmosphere, that we, aided by 

 those helps which science has furnished us, may predict the 

 approach of storms, or foretell, 'with a good degree of cer- 

 tainty, the future prevalence of fair weather in harvest time. 



BOTANY. 



Wo should know something of the structure of our plants, 

 the functions of their different parts, their classification, and 



