The Heather Plot 51 



ignorance of the one article in which they could 

 not be cheated ? The merchants denounced the 

 Department for its new fangled notions, but they 

 determined to stock the new manure. They 

 wrote to the manufacturers for it, and the manu- 

 facturers replied that they had never heard of any 

 manure made or sold under any such name. 



Not one bag of " Formula " could be bought in 

 our region, and then the scientific farmers came 

 to me, as they generally do for what they cannot 

 get to know anywhere else. I explained 

 " Formula " to them as best I could, but I do not 

 believe that they were as happy in the knowledge 

 as they had been in the suspicion. That was the 

 end of the most soundly scientific lecture I ever 

 heard from any of the Department's experts, and 

 it left me wondering how vast must be the waste 

 of money in this " instruction." However, it is 

 not the expert's fault. He is condemned to teach 

 men who are permanently deprived of the power 

 to learn : science must not enter the School. 



The rule laid down for the expert is to take 

 half a rood on the farm and to transform it ; mine 

 is to transform the farm, all but the half rood. 

 The peasant suspects that an expert working at 

 the public expense is concerned only to make a 

 show and to advertise the Department, without 

 regard to cost in relation to the product. It is not 

 for me to say how far this suspicion may be well 

 founded, but it is certain that the expert does not 

 ascertain the net result of his expenditure on the 

 plot. He may get an approximate calculation on 



