546 Dedication of Polytechnic Hall — Address. [November, 



The orchard, pruning, its objects, when to be performed, root prun- 

 ing, shortening in, pinching, etc. 



But geology, botany, vegetable physiology, and fruit and garden 

 culture in all their practical details, form but a small part of the 

 course to be pursued, the sciences to be mastered. 



The Farmer should not only understand the leading principles of 

 hemistry in general, but all about those particular principles that 

 are applicable to agriculture. He should be able to analyze his soils, 

 plants, etc. — know the properties they contain in abundance to secure 

 a crop, and in what they were deficient. He should not, as now, look 

 upon the earth as a dead mass of matter ; but regard himself as sur- 

 rounded by a vast chemical laboratory, filled with various and strange 

 materials, full of activity and motion, in which composition and de- 

 composition and new combinations are constantly going on, to-day it 

 receives accessions and influences from the heavens, to-morrow it 

 throws ofi" new formed elements, that are carried into the oceans and 

 again deposited on distant shores. The earth is almost a living, 

 moving creature, and when quickened by atmospheric influences, 

 she brings forth innumerable living things; infinitely diversified in 

 form, in hue and fragrance, and each derives from her bosom the 

 nutriment that is suited to its character and wants. Truly is she the 

 mother of all living things. The skillful cultivator should know 

 something of its nature, its elements, its affinities and its uses. But 

 shall we stop here ? we have scarcely yet entered the vestibule of 

 the temple in which he is constantly to live and act. The farmer 

 has in his charge, and appropriated to his use, some of the noblest 

 animals upon the earth ; they are his companions and helpmates 

 through life, and by their labor, or the products of their bodies, he 

 is fed, and clothed, and ministered unto. He should know their 

 structure, and be able to minister skillfully to their wants, whether 

 in health or sickness. Hence, the farmer should have a knowledge 

 of the diseases of his animals, and of the proper remedies. 



Again, the farmer should not only carefully examine and under- 

 stand the habits of animals, but should be a naturalist ; especially 

 should he be acquainted with the nature and habits of insects that 

 are injurious to vegetation, that he may the better defend his crops 

 from their ravages. 



Our government could well afford to give a million of dollars 

 for an easy and practicable method of arresting the ravages of that 

 single little destroyer — the curculio. I have no doubt that it des- 

 troys over that amount annually, in three States of this Union. 



