STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 177 



concentrated Mg(NO s ) 2 sol., dry, ignite, solve in HC1 and 

 titre with Uran; but the Ca and Mg in variable and large 

 quantities destroy the nicety of the Uran method. There 

 was no trouble in getting out all P 2 5 , free from Fe and Al. 

 In presence of much Ca, its nasty tartrate bothered the fil- 

 tration also. I may make something out of it yet, but couldn 't 

 hitherto get with it so quickly and goodly as by the molybdic 

 method, MoO 3 for which, through Mister's commercial 

 talent, I get of B. for $8 per Ib. (1/2 kilo) instead of the $12. 

 he so accommodatingly charges. Goodbye. Come and see 

 me and believe me, Yours as ever, S. W. Johnson. 



Jamaica Plain, Mass. 27 April, 1875. 



Dear Johnson, I rejoice to learn of your release from 

 analytic drudgery, and do heartily congratulate you in that 

 regard and the country at large likewise. I am steadfast 

 in the faith (as I always have been) that the day of agricul- 

 tural students is not very far off. I even dare to hope that 

 it may come in our time, and I am sure that nothing can tend 

 more forcibly to help the tardy birth than the putting of 

 yourself into that state of "unencumbered leisure!!! and 

 mind at ease" which the poets dream of. 



I shall look now for the speedy issue of those works, on 

 "Tillage" and on "Foddering" especially the latter, for 

 which the country is clearly ripe and yearning. . . . 



What you say in praise of many of your Conn, farmers, and 

 of the progress of things in your state, consists entirely with 

 the opinion I had formed from reading Mr. Gold's reports. 

 The excellence of the Connecticut reports is assuredly a stand- 

 ing proof of the good influence which the Sheffield School has 

 exerted upon matters agricultural. 'Tis a point which Yale 

 may congratulate herself upon freely. You are quite right 

 to stand by the Tribune, and the Tribune will be foolish if 

 it lets you slip ; 'tis a standing wonder to me, though, how you 

 can turn off such good talk at such short notice and under 



