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ture and make of this important implement. All that has been 

 effected among us in the production and improvement of fine 

 fruits, in the increase of crops, in the cultivation of crops, in 

 the construction of farm implements generally, in the multi- 

 plication of articles of culture, in the redemption of waste 

 lands, doomed otherwise to perpetual unproductiveness, has 

 been first made by men of active and enlightened minds, 

 whose attention has been absorbed by these matters ; who ex- 

 periment in various processes, carefully noting the results ; and 

 who are not infrequently stigmatized by the sneering applica- 

 tion of book-farmers. 



How much have we yet to learn of soils, of manures, of the 

 particular improvements which particular soils require, of the 

 proper application of manures, of their mode of operation, of 

 the structure and habits of plants, of their best modes of cul- 

 ture, of the part which the soil performs in vegetation, of the 

 uses of manures which have been little known among us, of 

 the improvements which have been made and are still making 

 in foreign countries ; and how is all this or any of it to be 

 known but by inquiry, scientific inquiry and examination ? 

 Who will pretend to set any limits to improvements which may 

 be made ; or say to what great results inquiry may still lead ? 



Fifty years ago, by the example and influence of some of 

 the most enlightened men in the kingdom, the turnip husband- 

 ry was introduced into Great Britain. It has added uncounted 

 millions to their wealth. Fifty years ago the cultivation of 

 cotton was among the smallest of our agricultural products. 

 Now the value of this great staple approaches one hundred 

 millions of dollars a year. Thirty years ago it was scarcely 

 known that sugar could be obtained from the beet root. Now 

 the product in France alone is annually 120,0U0,000 of lbs. 

 What has contributed more largely to the prosperity of the 

 culture of cotton than any thing else? The scientific labors of 

 Whitney in the invention of the cotton gin. Who discovered 

 the existence of sugar in beets, and who has perfected the art 

 of manufacturing it ? The most eminent chemists in Germany 

 and France. 



