238 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



I do not overrate the value of natural science to the agricul 

 turist, the resident in the country. For him it is the proper 

 study for use, for ability, for recreation, and for ornament. 

 There is yet much to be done in agriculture. I believe that 

 the quantity of the products of the earth from the same extent 

 of surface may in most cases be quadrupled, and that the number 

 of its productions for the sustenance of man and beast may be 

 multiplied far beyond any present calculation. If we may argue 

 from what has been done to what may be done, the perfection 

 of agriculture is yet very distant, and vast improvements remain 

 to be made. But this can only be effected by bringing vigorous 

 and enlightened minds to bear upon the subject ; and the natural 

 sciences are those which of all others best prepare and strengthen 

 the mind for such investigations. The best education which 

 can be given to any man is not that which merely communi 

 cates knowledge, but that which enables and induces a man to 

 acquire knowledge for himself. This is what the study of the 

 natural sciences particularly prompt and compel a man to do. 

 These studies, pursued especially in the country, where Nature 

 in such a variety of aspects is continually offering herself for ex 

 amination, give a vigor and activity of mind which particularly 

 qualify men for practical objects and pursuits. 



We are to look, then, to educated men, to men of active and 

 cultivated minds, to men accustomed to study, inquiry, reflection, 

 observation, and experiment, for any great improvement yet to 

 be made in agriculture. These are the men who have always 

 been the pioneers in human progress, and these men are still to 

 lead the onward march. A school, therefore, which trains such 

 minds, not for literary leisure, but for the active and business 

 pursuits of life, must be regarded as one of the most valuable in 

 stitutions in the community. No branch of art or business will 

 be found to afford greater scope for the application of such an 

 education than agriculture. 



