48 AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES. 



manures, seeds, plants, and implements used in agricultural 

 practice.) The only efficient means of accomplishing this 

 object is to diffuse a higher degree of intelligence, and a 

 more extended scientific knowledge amongst farmers : for so 

 long as they are unacquainted with the principles of agri- 

 cultural science, there will be quacks and impostors, and 

 ignorant empiricists, who will prevail on them to in- 

 vest at least a little money in some new manure, seed, 

 plants or other things, in the hope of realizing the large gain 

 from it, that they are told will follow its use. Farmers 

 have satisfactory means of testing agricultural implements, 

 and they also can test seeds and plants with a good de- 

 gree of satisfaction, but their methods of testing manures, 

 chemical salts, guanoes, phosphates, poudrettes and other 

 similar articles are very imperfect, and hence we find that 

 the market is filled with worthless or very high priced 

 manures, such as the farmer never would purchase, if he 

 knew their composition and real value. A beginning has 

 already been made towards making known the character of 

 some of these manures, and although it is not expected that 

 such work can be accomplished without opposition from 

 parties interested in their sale, there is no doubt that before 

 long all the bad manures will be driven from the market, and 

 good ones, better and cheaper than the best and cheapest 

 now sold, will take their place. In order to hasten this time 

 farmers are requested and particularly urged to purchase no 

 high priced artificial manures without having a legal gua- 

 rantee with it, that it shall contain a specified amount of va- 

 luable matter, equal in value to what is paid for the manure. 



It will require some years to fully develop and perfect 

 all these departments, but the success which has thus far 

 already attended the undertaking, and the progress that has 

 already been made, afford the most satisfactory reason for 

 hope that all that was anticipated by the founders of the 

 institution, and much more, will ultimately be realized in it. 



