DECEMBEK MEETING. 317 



is decided in the aflirmativc, as I suppose it must bo, as I said at the beginning 

 mucli of our present advancement is duo to experiments, the question arises, 

 how shall wo experiment? 



I shall not touch upon the subject of scientific experiments, for scientific 

 experiments of value take plenty of money, a lon.i? series of years, close and 

 patient research. The person conducting them must have a truly scientific 

 mind, must be able to collect all the truths in a scries of observations and 

 eliminate all the errors. Such experiments are for the discovery of new laws, 

 — laws tiiat form the sub-structure of all scientific agriculture. 



But the experiments of which we are speaking are to teach us how to get the 

 greatest returns for the labor we expend npon our soil. They are to teach us 

 how to diminish the cost of jn'oduction. Decreasing the co.'^t of production is 

 indeed one of the most important items in productive industry and must not 

 be lost sight of. Such experiments can be made by any intelligent husband- 

 man. Care must bo taken, however, in all such investigations that the pro- 

 ducts of our toil do not cost us more than they will sell for in the markets. 

 This would be poor economy. 



To become good experimenters we nmst learn to be close observers. Any 

 remarkable effect must be produced by some cause. Then the first question to 

 ask is, can such an effect be repeated, and if so, what cause or what combina- 

 tion of causes produced it. By following up such observations and tracing 

 effects back to their causes we should learn much in regard to the relative value 

 of fertilizers and ditieront modes of culture, and thus bo enabled to improve 

 our practice in many ways. 



Much of the improvement made in our domestic animals has been by close 

 observation iti regard to certain causes producing certain effects, and these 

 causes coming in the first place from experiments in crossing the different 

 breeds or families. 



The experiment is now being tried of crossing our common working-horse 

 with the Percheron for the purpose of making them heavier and more compact. 

 Time will toll whether the experiment will bo of value. In such experiments 

 good judgment and good common sense are necessary. 



Experiments in feeding swine, sheep, and cattle are constantly being made 

 that are of no practical use to anybody, save, perhaps, to the j)ersons making 

 them, for no record is kept of the methods pursued or the facts brought out. 

 Such experiments have been made again and again and the results recorded. 

 It is time and labor saved to learn what has already been done in the way of 

 any experiment we may propose to undertake. Much good may come from 

 testing new varieties of fruit and vegetables. We should never be afraid to 

 give the new tilings a trial because they are new. It will take but little time 

 and be but a slight expense to devote a small part of our gardens, orchards, 

 and fields to the trial of new varieties of fruits, vegetables, and grains that 

 promise to bo of value. Experiments in the use of fertilizers can be made with- 

 out any great outlay of time and money. If for four dollars we can buy a com- 

 mercial fertilizer that will give us as great an increase yield of wheat per 

 acre as eight dollars' worth of barnyard manure, then it will pay to use the 

 commercial fertilizer and increase our area of Avheat. 



Every departure from customary usage is in a certain sense an experiment 

 and must be taken with caution. There are many expedients that may be tried 

 by way of experiment that may diminish the cost of production — such as sub- 

 soiling, draining, fall plowing, using jointer, plowing with three horses instead 



