xii.] SCIENCE ON A COUNTRY ESTATE. 307 



he was doing. And he said to himself : The soil, and 

 the rain, and the air are my raw materials. I ought 

 surely then to find out what soil, and rain, and air are; 

 so I must become a geologist and a meteorologist. 

 Vegetable substances are what I am to make. And 

 I ought surely to know what it is that I am making ; 

 so I must become a botanist. The raw material does 

 somehow or other become manufactured into the 

 produce ; the soil into the vegetable. I ought surely 

 to know a little about the processes of my own 

 manufacture ; so I must learn chemistry. Chance 

 and blind custom are not enough for me. At best 

 they can but leave me where they found me, at 

 their mercy. Science I need; and science I will 

 acquire. What was the result ? After many a mis- 

 take and disappointment, he succeeded in discovering 

 on his own estate a mine of unsuspected wealth 

 not of gold indeed, but of gold's worth the elements 

 of human food. He discovered why some parts of his 

 estate were fertile, while others were barren ; and by 

 applying the knowledge thus gained, he converted some 

 of his most barren fields into his most fertile ones ; he 

 preserved again and again his crops from blight, while 

 those of others perished all around him ; he won for 

 himself wealth, and the respect and honour of men of 

 science ; while those around him, slowly opening their 

 eyes to his improvements, folio wed his lessons at second- 

 hand, till the whole agriculture of an important district 

 has become gradually but permanently improved, 

 under the auspices of one patient and brave man, who 

 knew that knowledge was power, and that only by 

 obeying nature can man conquer her. 



Bear in mind both these last great proverbs ; and 



x 2 



