Agricultural Dferjntnin; m^ lural 



Present State of Agriculture, 



PERFECTED agriculture can result only from nice adjust- 

 iiK'nts a determination of the nature of the matter to be 

 dealt with and its inherent forces, combined with a special 

 knowledge of the individual organization and its functional 

 wants. Defective products are mainly due to functional wants ; 

 there are no truly diseased products or disorganized organs. 

 Graduate tlu> supplies to the nutrient powers, satisfy the 

 capacities of the plant at the proper time, and, all other things 

 being a-lju.-ted. the husbandry is perfect; or give the plant 

 its climate, temper the heats and moisture to its constitution, 

 make its physical condition happy, and put within its reach 

 the assimilating elements, and enough is done to insure pro- 

 ductive returns. But to do this requires probably more knowledge of soils and of the culti- 

 vated vegetables than we now possess. The ohj.vt is t. Mipply without waste, to cheapen 

 the product by the expenditure of the least labor, an<i n -<ti -iet the food to the kind and 

 quantity, so that it shall not be lost by escaping iut> the air or by being washed to remote parts 

 by mm-. It i- evident that adjustments require a complete insight into the physiology of 

 vegetation, its incipient stage, its natural strength, the peculiar or special products to be 

 found, the elements eompo>in them, and the be>t form in which these elements can be com- 

 bined to meet all the wants of the being. As I have already said, functional endowments 

 must be considered ; hence, that course with a plant which will give it an early vigorous 

 constitution and a full development of its organs in its rirst stages, must be pursued, and the 

 foundation is then laid for the full amount of the products sought. Dr. Emmona's J\ T at. 

 Hist. New York. 



Why the Fanner should give heed to the Man of Science. 



THE following judicious remarks form the conclusion of a recent lecture by Prof. Tuomey, 

 of Alabama, upon science, as applied to agriculture : 



" In conclusion, allow me to say one word upon the apparent indifference with which agri- 

 culturists, as a body, listen to the teachings of science. Rural pursuits are far less favorable 

 to speculative states of mind than those of the manufacturer ; and hence, while the latter has 

 pressed chemistry into his service, the cultivator of the soil is too often contented to pursue 

 his own chance-directed processes, unaided by the light of science. 



" This unnatural divorcement of science and agriculture has often arisen from not distin- 

 guishing between agriculture as a science and agriculture as an art. The man of science 

 investigates one department, and the cultivator of the soil practises the other. Odium is 

 often brought upon what is called scientific farming by the failure of men of science when 

 they attempt the practice of agriculture. Now, I believe that, in general, it will be found 

 that it was not the science, but the common sense, of such men that was at fault. The practice 

 requires a different training, and, however sound his principles, the mere man of science fails 

 for want of it when he attempts to try his own principles practically. Liebig, I apprehend, 

 would make but a sorry plowman, yet the world has listened to his teachings. In all the arts 



21 



