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FARMERS' REGISTER 



Beeidea the studies already mentioned it would 

 be desirable for the farmer to acquire, if possible, 

 some knowledge of entomology, physics, meteoro- 

 logy and comparative anatomy. These studies 

 are, it is true, comparatively unimportant; and yet 

 a feiv remarks on their nature may not be inap- 

 propriate in this essay. Entomology is that 

 science which treats of the structure and habits ol' 

 insects. The (iirmer ol'ien sull'ers great injury 

 from the depredations of insects, and no certain 

 way of protectnig himseIC against them can be 

 discovered (unless it be by accident) without first 

 becoming acquainted with their nature and habits. 

 The mistakes to which persons are liable, from 

 the want of such information, are well illustrated 

 in the (olio wing extract from a treatise on ento- 

 mology by Messrs. Kirliy and Spence. "In Ger- 

 many, the gardeners and country people, with 

 great industry, gather whole baskets-full of de- 

 structive cabbage-moth, and then bury them, 

 which is just as wise a course as to attempt to kill 

 a crab by covering it with water; lor many of 

 them being fully grown, and ready to pass into 

 their next state, which they do under the ground, 

 instead of destroying them by this manoMivre, 

 their appearance again the following year in 

 greater numbers is actually facilitated. Yet this 

 plan, if applied to our common cabbatrecater- 

 pillar. which does not go under ixround, would 

 succeed." Physics, in its restricted sense, (and it 

 is in that eense that 1 here use it,) embraces an 

 inquiry into (he nature o( light, heat, electricity 

 and magnetism. An acquaintance with the laws 

 which govern these ever-active and every-where 

 present agents, might prove serviceable to the 

 iiirmer in many cases ; as, in the construction ol' 

 ice-houses, fire-places, lightning-rods, the selec- 

 tion and preparation of cloihing materials, &c. 

 The object of meteorology is to inquire into the 

 nature of the atmosphere, and of tliose pheno- 

 mena which occur in tlie atmos|)here, or are 

 caused by it, such as the formation of clouds, the 

 production of rain, hail and snow, the deposition 

 of dew and frost, the cause of winds, &c. The 

 object of comparative anatomy is to explain the 

 structure of animals ; more pariicularly the forms 

 of their different bones, the manner in which those 

 bones are connected, liie position and attachment 

 of the muscles, &c. A knowledge of the struc- 

 ture of what are termed domestic aninials, woulil, 

 in all probability, admit of some valuable appli- 

 cations in the hands of practical men. 



Whilst thus advocating the claims of science, I 

 would by no means be utiderstood as advancing 

 the opinion, that z\ scientific education alone would 

 fit a n\an for the profitable prosecution of agricul- 

 ture ; for this is an opinion which I do not enter- 

 tain. I would make the farmer's scientific educa- 

 tion, like education of every other kind, prepara- 

 tory to a course of practical training to be received 

 from some liirmer competent to the task. Sir 11. 

 Davy's remark respeciiiiif agricultural chemistry, 

 is a very just one, and might be made with equal 

 truth of every other science: " [t has been said, 

 ami undoubtedly with great truth, that a philoso- 

 pliical chemist would most probably make a very 

 uii|)rofilable business of farming ; and this certain- 

 ly wouKl be the case, if he were a Uierc philoso- 

 phical chemist, and unless he was acquainted 

 will) the practice of the art as well as its theory. 

 But ihcie is reason to believe that he would be a 



more successful agriculturist, than one equally 

 initiated in larming, but ignorant of chemistry ; his 

 science, so lar as it went, would be useful to him." 

 The case of Lavoisier, one of the most celebrated 

 of European chemists afl;brds an example of the 

 advantages which may be derived from the appli- 

 cation of science to agriculture. By Ibllowing a 

 system of cultivation, baseil upon his knowledge 

 of natural science, he is said, "in the course of 

 nine years, to have, doubled the quantity of grain 

 produced on his larm, and to have quintupled the 

 number of his flocks." With such an example 

 belbre us, we cannot reasonably call in question 

 the value of scientific knowledge to the (armer; 

 but at the same time, let me remark, that should 

 we suppose that scientific knowledge was all that 

 was needed, we should lall into an error equally 

 great. There are a thousand important conside- 

 rations connected with farming, of which science 

 do§s not and cannot take cognizance, and which 

 can be learned from the practical farmer alone. 

 If little has been said in the present essay, re- 

 specting the importance of such knowledge, it 

 has not been because the author undervalued it, 

 but because he su|)posed it was not properly em- 

 braced under the term education, as that term is 

 generally understood in this country, and at this 

 day. 



Such are the principal studies which should be 

 embraced in a course of agricultural education. 

 It will be noticed that they are all of a scientific 

 character ; and here a remark or two respecting 

 the nature of science may not be misplaced, with 

 especial reference to the objection con)monly made 

 against it, based upon the belief that scientific 

 knowledge is sotnething essentially difi'erent from 

 human knowledge in general. By science, when 

 properly understood, nothing more nor less is 

 meant than our knowledge arranged and general- 

 ized. Our knowledge on all subjects is in the 

 first instance a knowledge of individual facts. 

 After a stock of facts has accumulated, we per- 

 ceive that many of them are of the same charac- 

 ter; these we class logeiher, and include them 

 under a general statement. Again, we observe 

 that some of these lads bear to others the relation 

 of cause to efi'ect, and we arrange them in accord- 

 ance with this observation. This once accom- 

 plished, our knowledge has become science. By 

 this process, the form and not the nature of our 

 knowledge is changed. Founded, as scientific 

 principles are, upon observation, their application 

 to the afi'airs of lile is one of the very best methods 

 of testing their truth. If ihey will not stand this 

 test, they form no part of true science, but of 

 " science falsely so calleil." 



The greatest objeciion in the minds of most 

 persons to the scientific education of farmers, is 

 that it will make them mere theorists. But will 

 ignorance of s^cience prevent their theorizing 1 

 The remarks of Hawkins in a communication 

 already reli^rred to, are; "Ignorant men are the 

 most irreclaimable theorists. They attribute ef- 

 fects to I he most fimciful causes, and then from 

 their assumed and absurd premises, they argue 

 away as boldly as a geometrician. I have heard 

 many sirikmg instances of this from a friend of 

 mine, who is both a physician and a philosopher. 

 Une instance was as follows. A poor fellow was 

 troubled with what he considered "a rising of the 

 lights ;"— and when I asked him, if he had taken 



