86 WRITINGS OP JOSEPH HENRY. [1855- 



which forms the most efficient and reliable character, and it 

 should be the object of the agricultural colleges which are 

 about being established in various parts of our country to 

 produce educational results of this kind. 



It is not expected that the farmer is to be a professional 

 scientist, but that he should be familiar with the general 

 principles of all branches of knowledge which more espe- 

 cially relate to his occupation ; and the wider the extent of 

 his information the better. Above all, he should be quali- 

 fied to form a just appreciation of the value of original scien- 

 tific investigations, and be ready at all times to adopt the 

 principles which they may unfold, so far as they may be 

 applicable to his uses ; and moreover, be willing to render 

 a due acknowledgment for the benefits thus conferred, and 

 to contribute in any way in his power to the necessary, if 

 not liberal, support of those who seek without the hope of 

 pecuniary reward, to advance the bounds of human knowl- 

 edge and of human power. The number of those in any 

 age and in any country, who successfully investigate nature 

 and discover new truths which form valuable contributions 

 to the existing stock of knowledge, is comparatively small. 

 The successful labor of the hands is much easier than that 

 of the head; and therefore those who have actually proved 

 by what they have done that they possess the ability to en- 

 large the field of science should be especially cared for, and 

 their energies husbanded and directed to the one pursuit to 

 which they may have devoted their attention. Unfortu- 

 nately however there has always been in England and this 

 country a tendency to undervalue the advantages of pro- 

 found thought, and to regard with favor only those investi- 

 gations which are immediatel}'' applicable to the wants of 

 the present hour. But it should be recollected that the 

 scientific principles which at one period appear of no practi- 

 cal value, and are far removed from popular appreciation, 

 at a later time, in the further development of the subject, 

 become the means of individual prosperity and national 

 wealth. 



About fifty years ago, Sir Humj^hry Davy moistened a 



