84 The Relation of (he Physical Nature [Feb., 



of science, and with all the practical experience of ages, arrived at a 

 full and clear understanding of the causes which govern fertility and 

 sterility of soil ? Can he account with certainty for the hundred, 

 the thirty, or the tenfold yield which his seed has produced? To 

 this question we have to answer, that we know but in part, and 

 prophesy but in part. 



Chemistry, it is true, has of late taken a strong hold upon this 

 important topic, and according to the results of the most minute 

 analyses of the soil and the plant, her most talented sons have estab- 

 lished theories, which, seeming quite natural and plausible, have for 

 some time past filled the world with wonder and enthusiasm. Their 

 theories accord fully with many facts, and ancient customs of the 

 farmer, with many other not less important facts, however, that have 

 so far not been made to square. The future development of science 

 and practical experience only, will fully prove whether they are cor- 

 rect or false. It is not probable, nor reasonable to expect, that this 

 important question can be satisfactorily settled by chemical analysis 

 alone, as many most important facts depend on causes which nec- 

 essarily escape the observation of the investigator. Many items of 

 practical experience taken from the laboratory of the farmer — wherein 

 the noble plow is the most beneficial apparatus — must be taken into 

 consideration. It would indeed be unfair to suppose that the chem- 

 ist has done all the thinking, leaving the despised labor to the farmer. 

 On the other hand, however, it is to be acknowledged that agricul- 

 ture has been greatly profited by the researches of the learned. 



We can readily find a fact to serve as an average between the 

 farmer's and the chemist's merits in the solution of the question. 

 The farmer can increase the yield of a certain crop by a high and 

 skillful preparation and cultivation of the soil. The chemist attains 

 the same end by the application of a certain chemical, artificial ma- 

 nure, of modern days, which is said to be indispensable to the life 

 and healthy condition of the plant. In the one case the physical 

 nature of the soil is improved more than commonly, that is to say, 

 a greater portion of the soil is made ready to receive the beneficial 

 influences of the atmosphere, which introduces stores of vegetable 

 nutrition. IMany most important ingredients of the soil are there- 

 by brought into direct action, which, previous to the mechanical 

 process of breaking the subsoil, have slept in an inactive state under 

 the earth. In the other ease, a powerful stimulus is directly offered 

 to the plant, which is eagerly devoured, without any reference to the 



