I. S. SMITH'S ADDRESS. 415 



been done, already, to call the attention of our farmers to this 

 subject. The wash from the barns, and the slops from the 

 sinks and chambers, of some of our country farm-houses, are 

 saved, and converted into food for the growing crops. Still, 

 this defect remains, to a greater or less extent, in almost every 

 part of the State. 



Another defect, which exists, to a very great extent, among 

 our farmers, is a want of knowledge, — a deficiency of educa- 

 tion, in some of the sciences which are most intimately con- 

 nected with their pursuits. With chemistry, botany, and 

 entomology, the farmer should be theoretically and practically 

 acquainted. He is applying, successfully or unsuccessfully, the 

 principles of chemistry, in every shovel full of manure which 

 he spreads upon his fields. He is applying, successfully or un- 

 successfully, the principles of botany and vegetable physiology, 

 in every nip of the fingers in plucking the bud or shoot from 

 his grape vine, the barren blossom from his squash vine, and 

 in every operation he performs, of budding, grafting, and 

 layering. And he is applying, successfully or unsuccessfully, 

 the principles of entomology, in every shot which brings down 

 the robin from his cherry tree, and in every attempt which he 

 makes to destroy the myriads of insects by which he is sur- 

 rounded, and by which the products of his labor are sometimes 

 swept from the earth, as by a pestilence, or devouring fire. A 

 certain practical knowledge of the principles of these sciences, 

 comes down to a people from age to age, as the result of chance 

 and necessity. A knowledge of these principles, which was 

 sufficient when the soil was new, the population sparse, and 

 the wants of society few. becomes insufficient, when the soil 

 is exhausted, the population dense, and the wants of society 

 multiplied a hundred fold. 



In entomology, especially, the knowledge of one age is alto- 

 gether insufficient for another. Other things being equal, an 

 old, densely populated district, is more infested by insects, de- 

 structive to vegetation, than a new, sparsely populated district. 

 With the increase of vegetable productions, comes the increase 

 of insects. Hence, the necessity of a greater knowledge of 

 their origin, modes, and habits of life, than before existed. 



