FARMERS' R [AGISTER— SCHOOLS FOR FARMERS' SONS. 



291 



of man has discovered in these latter days, the 

 first place is due, by general consent, to 



Chemistry. — The efTurrs of the farmer are chief- 

 ly dircclcd towards making land more fertile; and 

 the first step in this process is to inquire in what 

 particulars less fertile land may difler from that 

 \vdiich is more so; to compare the two together; to 

 find out the ingredients of each, and the proportions 

 in which they are mixed. The knowledge how 

 to do this is Chemistry. Arguments upon particu- 

 lar cases are commonly more intelligible than ab- 

 stract reasoning; and it may therefore be advisa- 

 ble to select an instance. The following is li'om 

 Sir Humphrey Davy's Agricultural Chemistry. 



He says, "a soil of good apjuirent texture from 

 Lincolnshire was put into my hands by Sir Joseph 

 Banks, as remarkable for sterilitj-. On examining 

 it, I found that it contained sulphate of iron, andl 

 offered the obvious remedy of top-dressing with 

 lime, which converts the sulphate into a manure." 



Now, what is the process by which, as we may 

 suppose. Sir Humphrey Davy arrived at the 

 knowledge that the difference between this barren 

 soil and other soils of the same appearance, con- 

 sisted in its containing sulphate of iron. By previ- 

 ous instruction, he had made himself acquainted 

 with the nature of soils in general, and with their 

 most usual ingredients, and he proceeded to test 

 for them, one after another, until he threw in the 

 reagent, which tbrced the latent mischief to show 

 itself. 



For the sake of perspicuity, let us suppose that 

 of the many substances in nature, which may not 

 improbably exist in a soil (and the presence of 

 ehher of which would lessen its fertility,) the four 

 folio wing are supposed to be the must probable. 



1. An alkali. 



2. An acid. 



3. Magnesia. 



4. Sulphate of iron. 



Any vegetable blue, such as the infusion of 

 i-iolets, would be a test for the fir^st two substances, j 

 The infusion would turn green if an alkali, and j 

 red if an acid, were present. The presence of j 

 magnesia would be indicated by its slightly effer- 

 vescing when plunged into an acid, and b}^ its 

 rendering diluted nitric acid milky. If^ by these 

 applications, it should be decided that neither of 

 tlie first three ingredients existed in the soil, the 

 next point would be to inquire as to the presence 

 of sulphate of iron. It might be difficult, it might 

 perhaps be impossible, for the eye or the hand to 

 perceive it; but, if it existed, a few drops of the 

 infusion of galls, poured into a wine-glass con- 

 taining a small portion of the earth dissolved in 

 water, would cause the mixture to turn as black as 

 ink, and it would in fact be ink; for sulphate of 

 iron and galls are the materials of which ink is 

 commonly made. And all this isverj^ easily done; 

 it might be performed by a child. AH that is re- 

 quired is, that a few ounces of the soil should be 

 brought home, and, at each experiment, a tea- 

 spoonful of it put into a wine-glass, and a table 

 spoonful of the test-liquid poured upon it. 



By means as simple as these, a man may tell 

 what ingredients go to the composition of any soil 

 that he may wish to examine, but it requires a 

 little more trouble to ascertain the proportions in 

 which these ingredients exist; and the barrenness 

 &f a soil may be owing to the excess or deficiency 



of an ingredient not less than to its absence or pre- 

 sence. A chemical analysis of soils, however easy 

 to those who have been regularly taught how to 

 conduct it, could scarcely be pcrlbrmed by those 

 who had not; and few men can be brought to give 

 these things sufficient attention after their school 

 days are over; for which reason it is particularly 

 desirable to have them taught in youth, — "in the 

 morning of our days, when the senses are unworn 

 and tender, and the gloss of novelty is fresh on all 

 the objects which surround us." 



"The instruments required for the analysis of 

 soils arc few, and but little expensive. They are, 

 a balance capable of containing about a quarter of 

 a pound of common soil, and capable of turning, 

 when loaded, with a grain; a set of weights from 

 a quarter of a pound troy to a grain; a wire-sieve, 

 sufficiently coarse to admit a mustard-seed through 

 its apertures; an argand-Iamp and stand; some 

 glass'bottles; Hessian crucibles; porcelain orqueen's 

 ware; evaporating basins; a Wedgwood pestle 

 and mortar; some filters, made of half a .sheet of 

 blotting paper, folded so as to contain a pint of li- 

 quid, and greased at the edges; a bone knife, and 

 an apparatus for collecting and measuring aeriform 

 fluids." — j-Jgrtcultural Chemistry, 140. 



And a farmer need not possess all these things 

 himself. If the proposed schools were established 

 in every district, the apparatus, with the necessary 

 reagents, would be kept at each school, and might 

 be used occasionally by any bodj^: and all he wants 

 ibr most purposes would be a few acid and vegeta- 

 ble infusions, — a test-box, in short, — with the 

 weights, sieves, lamps, and earthenware used for 

 domestic purposes. And many very important re- 

 sults might be come at by these simple methods. 



What can be easier to observe, whether an in- 

 fiision of any kind turns vegetable blues red or not? 

 But if it does, the infusion contains an acid, and 

 therefore lime, or any alkaline substance, is a good 

 dressing for it. 



When a piece of paper moistened with muriatic 

 acid, and held over the steam arising from a dung- 

 hil, gives out dense fumes, it is a certain proof that 

 the decomposition is going too far, for it indicates 

 that volatile alkali is disengaged. 



It requires very little labor to observe, whether a 

 soil effervesces by the action of an acid, or whe- 

 ther it burns when heated, or what weight is lost 

 by heat; and yet these simple indications may 

 convey most valuable information concerning the 

 ingredients of the soil. 



If the whole case rested upon these instances, 

 there would be little room to fear refutation, for 

 they surely prove the applicability of Chemistry 

 I to Agriculture — they prove that many of the 

 causes of sterihty, and consequently the appropri- 

 I ate remedies, may be discovered by its aid. 

 i Not that all these instances would be applicable 

 to all soils, but sonie would apply to one species 

 and some to another, and happy Avould he be 

 whose land was so good that he could find no fault 

 in it. And it may be repeated .over and over 

 again, in favor of chemical analysis, that all bar- 

 renness, as well as every other quality of a soil, 

 must of necessity be owing either to the presence 

 or absence — the excess or deficiency — of some ele- 

 ment. 



Entomology — The Knowledge of Insects. — The 

 first step in proof of the utility of this science, 

 might be to show that insects do a great deal of 



