1837] 



FARMKRS' REGISTER. 



645 



ries in its conteiils of" the calcareous matter from 

 five «r ten to sixty per cent, or more, and consiJ- 

 eralilv often in iliesaine licil. 



Of manures in <j;eneral, we have unlimited if^- 

 sources: l)et>ides those ol' tiie reffniar farm yard, 

 we iuive liie surlaee soil of the lorest, the bottom 

 mud of marshes, branches and ponds — these re- 

 quire to be |)assed throuii;h the farm yard, to re- 

 ceive a i)ortion ol' the saline offal, or to be heaped 

 in the fall previous to their ap|)lication with lime 

 or allies to correct their acidity — the oxalic acid 

 prevailing, it is generally believed, in the former, 

 and the sulphuric in the three latter — and to allow 

 time lor their intin)ate incorporation and maturity; 

 which method, be the rationale right or wrong, 

 the experience of many years has assured me. is 

 essential to a good result. 



^ Surface manuring, which is apparently at va- 

 riance with every known relative principle, has 

 some able advocates in experience — the adversary 

 principles appear to be well established; yet the 

 inli?renc.cs drawn iiom them, may possibly be fal- 

 lacious; or, others )et to be discovered, ma}^ pre- 

 ponderate. It is a question of primary importance, 

 to ascertain the facts in the case, which may ena- 

 ble us to adopt the true jM-actice, and arrive ai. the 

 true principles on which a correct theory may be 

 settled. 



This leads me finally, to remr»rk upon the invet- 

 erate antipathies, of many, to the very name of 

 theory, and of books, and agricultural science. 

 Upon this subject I have belore dwelt with much 

 earnestness, in the full belief of the marvellous 

 and pernicious prevalence of the sentiment. 



I assume 'consensu omnitim,'' that facts are es- 

 sential to this, as well as to every art or science — 

 a graphical history of facts, records and preserves 

 them from being lost or forgotten, and necessarily 

 accumulates and virtually multiplies what is essen- 

 tial to the art or sciences. Theory digests, ar- 

 ranges and makes inductions, from the facts collec- 

 ted and preserved, and thouirh the conclusions 

 may be as various as the minds that draw them, 

 and therefore cannot all be correct ; yer they con- 

 tain the various views and best judgment of those 

 who are in the habit of reflecting and reasoning 

 upon such suhjecis — and they present for the con- 

 sideration of others, a comparative view of the 

 various relations and indaclions, of which the 

 facts are susceptible. And thus they enable a 

 very untutored mind to form a correct judij^ment, 

 upon subjects which it coidd not have attained, 

 without the assistance of books and the elucida- 

 tions of science. 



Of these advantages chemistry and geoloiry af- 

 ford well marked instances. 



By chemistry, we learn the ultimate principles 

 of bodies, and their several combinations ; and. 

 by a detection of those, which, in point of fact 

 are conducive to vegetable life, as well as those, 

 which are inimical to it, we are enabled to correct 

 the one and supply the other, as interest may in- 

 cline us — and, often by the agency of Ibreign "sub- 

 stances, cheap and easily obtained, to convert ran- 

 corous poisons into salutary nutrunent. Sulphate 

 of iron, for instance, is a deadly poison to the ve- 

 getable system ; the metal itself is innocent ; 

 chemistry teaches, that the acid having a stronger 

 affinity for lime, than for iron— by its addition, the 

 poisonous compound is converted into sulphate of 

 lime, or plaster of Paris, a valuable exciting ma- 

 Vol. V— 69 



nure, leaving its Ibrmer base, the iron, in its unof- 

 liMiding metallic stale: innumerable instances 

 mi«:hl be adduced to the same eflect. 



The science oi' geology, for many practical 

 purposes is useful to the firmer; as cliemislry 

 teaches the uliimaie, so does geology intbrm us of 

 what may be termed the proximaie ])riiiciples of 

 the earth: by geology we may learn the propor- 

 tions of the lour primary earths present in the soil; 

 silica, lime, alumina, and magnesia — which, com- 

 bined with animal and vegetable matters, consti- 

 tute the soil: and by their various proportions, 

 make the various qualities which we daily wit- 

 ness. 



A mode of geological analysis has been pro- 

 posed by Professor Eaton, wliich I have found 

 very convenient and simple; pursuing the course 

 of geological deposition in miniature; that is, soils 

 may be deposited from water, in a common tum- 

 bler, after a suitable preparation, so that the pro- 

 portions of these earths maybe ascertained; lor 

 which, he has given an excellent formula. 



The advantages to be gained fiom these and 

 other branches of science, notwithstanding the 

 popular prejudices, are too obvious to need further 

 remark: rest assured, that sell-conceit, and vanity, 

 have much agency in the adversary sentiment; 

 and, as in the physical man, so in the moral and 

 intellectual, the more inveterate, the more incura- 

 ble the affection. 



If any feel disposed to the fatuity, he should 

 arrest it in the germ ; he should make the earliest 

 efforts to resist the vicious habit of his mind ; to 

 such I would address myself in the emphatic lan- 

 guage of St. John, "sin no more, lest a worse thing 

 come unto thee." 



From these views, it is obvious, that books, as 

 well as ploughshares, are fit instruments of agri- 

 culture; and, that this ancient, useful, and honora- 

 ble profession is based upon, and essentially con- 

 nected with science, in the broadest import of the 

 term, extending to all the intricate plans and op- 

 erations of the supreme architect of nature, com- 

 prehended within the vast orbs ol"the heavens, and 

 of the earth; they are ail directly, or indirectly, 

 subservient to the great purposes of agriculture. 



We have, then, it will be conceded, a learned 

 profession, as well as a useflil art, of which, its vo- 

 tarists may boast. Yet, as if to rebuke ingrati- 

 tude to the great author of all good, we have in 

 [irospect, some black and ominous clouds, it is 

 not my duty, if it were my will and power to dis- 

 cuss their origin, or foretell their issue. It would 

 seem that not only the laws of the material world 

 are working a deleterious revolution in our cli- 

 ujate — but, that nature herself, had suffered a 

 concussion, had lost her centre of gravity, and is 

 tottering on the eve of perdition; and, "that the 

 whole machinery of the universe, with the inge- 

 nious developements of the human faculties, the 

 fruits of time and experience, in moral and political 

 discipline, for the social and individual liappiness 

 of man, are in imminent perd. 



But it is consistent with true philosophy, to dis- 

 miss those grave and solemn forebodings — and to 

 exert the best faculties of mind and body to avert 

 approaching evils, and confide the issue to the 

 great God of nature. 



'Who knows, but be ? — whose hand the lightning 



forms. 

 Who heaves Old Ocean, and who wings the storms, 



