226 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



XXIX. CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 



But what seems mainly to be relied on, in this case, is chem 

 ical knowledge ; and the high value of this knowledge it is at 

 least safe to presume. Confident, however, as some persons 

 seem to be in the discoveries already made, still it must be 

 acknowledged that the application of these discoveries to prac 

 tical agriculture has been hitherto so limited, imperfect, and 

 doubtful, that we are compelled to consider ourselves as yet 

 only in the infancy of the science. I do not mean in the 

 smallest measure to undervalue the science ; nor to disparage 

 what has already been done ; nor to discourage the sanguine 

 hopes which some entertain for the future ; but in the present 

 state of agricultural chemistry, the extreme confidence of some 

 persons may be at least pronounced premature. The application 

 of sulphuric acid to bones seems as yet to be the only well- 

 established case of the application of chemical science to the 

 improvement of practical agriculture upon scientific principles ; 

 and this certainly affords strong grounds to hope for much more. 

 The operations of gypsum are still an insoluble mystery, and the 

 explanations which have been given of its effects do not appear 

 to be confirmed by facts. The application of lime to the soil, 

 and its particular advantages and uses, are still among the vexed 

 questions of agriculture. Its beneficial mechanical effects are often 

 obvious, but its chemical operation is not so well defined. A 

 farmer as eminent as Scotland produces, who has for a long 

 series of years used lime most bountifully upon his farm, told 

 me he remained entirely at a loss to determine whether it was 

 of any service or not. The same uncertainty of explanation is 

 applicable to various manures, in regard to their mode of opera 

 tion and their precise chemical effects. I do not hold this as a 

 reason for rejecting the aid of chemistry, but only as a ground 

 for moderating a too sanguine confidence in its power. As it 

 offers certainly the most probable means of solving many of the 

 secrets of nature s operations, and as in many of the mechanical 

 arts its triumphs are complete, there are the strongest reasons 

 for pressing our inquiries by means of it, and for the best hopes 



