306 INDIAN CORN. 



ter to render the discussion of this subject as practical 

 as possible, well aware that, without this quality, it 

 could have but little interest or value for the farmer. 

 Yet it should never be forgotten that in many in- 

 stances sound practical conclusions are more readily 

 arrived at by the aid of theory than in any other way. 

 Indeed, all reasoning from the facts of experience to 

 general conclusions is of necessity more or less theoreti- 

 cal ; and however strong the tendency among cultiva- 

 tors to separate facts from theory, repudiating the 

 latter as of little or no value, still it is only by pre- 

 serving a proper connection between them that the 

 greatest usefulness of each is found, and the most im- 

 portant results obtained. 



It must, however, be admitted that the prejudice 

 prevailing among farmers against theoretical investiga- 

 tion is very easily accounted for and perhaps in some 

 measure justified by the extravagant theories too 

 often propounded by speculative writers theories 

 with scarcely a fact to rest upon, and certainly not 

 entitled to the confidence of sensible men. It is not, 

 therefore, difficult to understand the jealousy and dis- 

 trust with which this class of speculations are apt to 

 be viewed by agriculturists. 



Yet it does not follow, because some writers in- 

 dulge in vague and shadowy abstractions, dignifying 

 them with the name of theory, that all theoretical in- 

 quiry is necessarily unsound and useless. There is 

 probably no principle nor method of investigation 

 that is not liable to misapplication or abuse ; but this 

 consideration, while it furnishes good ground for cau- 



