CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAL 281 



never do to make the whole face of the earth ji Garden of 

 Eden, where man had only to gather the fruit and eat. 



And so to the natural conservatism of man in regard to 

 all things was added the wrong teachings as to the charac- 

 ter of the vast semi-arid regions, and this in time engen- 

 dered deep-seated prejudices, which it will take many years 

 to remove. Then, again, there have been years of study 

 of agriculture following the lines of the forefathers, and 

 adapting the study to conditions that generally prevail 

 where agriculture is most favored. Here again is created 

 prejudice against anything new or different. 



Scientific soil culture has been under the necessity of 

 making a place for itself despite prejudice. It has been 

 necessary to not only show that this method is right, but 

 also that old methods are wrong. 



Agricultural science is making as great progress as any 

 other branch of human activity. The prejudices of the 

 past are being broken down rapidly. Men are thinking 

 about the matter and thinking differently from what they 

 were. One cannot make much progress without getting 

 into a new way of thinking. Scientific soil culture involves 

 this very thing, for he who succeeds at it must do very 

 much original thinking that he may work out the little 

 problems which no man can foresee. If the farmer who 

 approaches the subject in the right spirit becomes filled 

 with the true principle he will invariably reason along the 

 right lines and come out right. Its methods do not in- 

 volve new machinery, and in some things the methods are 

 but variations of those in common use, but it does involve 

 a new way of thinking, which is the foundation of the 

 science. 



So soon as prejudice is wholly put away then will prog- 

 ress in agricultural science be on a par with that in other 

 more advanced lines. 



