514 Abstract Report of Agricultural Discussions. 



now scliool be relied upon as a guide to successful farming, practical 

 mistakes must necessarily follow, and bad farming will be perpetuated 

 quite as much by such jn'oceediugs as if the rule of thumb of a by- 

 gone generation were regarded as the road to advancement in agri- 

 culture. 



Empirical knowledge in agriculture is by no means to be despised ; 

 but such knowledge, though of value to the individual, is of no value 

 to those who are differently situated. On the other hand, scientific, 

 or, as they are sometimes called, theoretical experiments in the field, 

 have for their object to establish agi"icultui'al truths or principles 

 which may be a general guide to the practical man in his operations 

 on the farm. In all scientific experiments the ultimate object is to 

 promote the progress of agricultui-e as a practical science. The 

 scientific experimenter is not necessarily interested in the purely 

 economical result of a field trial ; direct profit is not their aim, but 

 rather the establishment of general princijiles which may be applied 

 by the practical farmer. It is for the farmer to keep these general 

 princij)les in view, and to determine for himself what practical bearing 

 such principles have on the cultivation of his crops in a particidar 

 locality. This distinction between purely practical field experiments 

 and systematic or theoretical experiments should be steadily kept in 

 view. The latter ajipear to me the most important. It is, therefore, 

 to the latter kind of exjieriments — systematic exj)eriments — -that my 

 future remarks will especially ajjply. 



The first question that forces itself on our attention is, Should 

 experiments in the field be performed on a large or small scale ? A 

 good deal may be said in favom- of experiments on a large scale ; 

 but, on the whole, I am inclined to think it is not necessary to 

 set aside many acres for purely experimental purposes, and that 

 many of the most instructive and valuable field experiments may 

 be performed within a narrow space. The extent of the area 

 must be determined, in a great measiu'e, by the nature of the crop. 

 Thus crojjs which we can plant in drills, and which may be kept 

 under better control than others, may be confined to a smaller area 

 than grass crojis. In the case of roots, I think the twentieth part of 

 an acre is a usefid size. For corn crops I would recommend a quarter 

 of an acre ; as also for experiments on gi-asses, both artificial grasses 

 and permanent j)astures. 



If we make experimental plots too large, there is very great difficulty 

 in performing agricultui'al operations under precisely the same cir- 

 cumstances. All who are acquainted with practical farming must 

 know what a difference of results often arises from a difference of one 

 or two days in time, I have seen a difference of more than six tons 

 of turnijis, which could be attributed to no other cause than the fact 

 that between the sowing of one plot and of another in the same field, 

 manured precisely alike and xmder the same mechanical conditions, 

 two days elapsed. Now we know perfectly well that when seed has a 

 chance of springing up and passing successfully through the first 

 stages, wo obtain, other circiunstances being equal, a better crop than 

 when the ground, or rather the seed-bed, becomes dry, and three weeks 



