382 SELECTIONS FROM ADDRESSES. 



and electricity. Young farmers should no longer be ignorant 

 of the origin of soils, the upheaval of islands and continents, 

 the direction of the tidal currents that once swept over the 

 land they cultivate, the earthy deposits left in their course, and 

 all the other important truths brought to light by the valuable 

 researches of geologists. Chemistry has equal, if not stronger 

 claims to the attention of the agriculturist. A knowledge of 

 the various substances that form the whole matter stirred by 

 the plough, and the exact composition of every product of rural 

 industry, whether vegetable or animal, of all common gases and 

 water, it is the purpose of agricultural chemistry to teach. 

 Meteorology, vegetable and animal physiology, which elucidate 

 the capabilities of climates, and the organism of all living things, 

 should also be studied with equal care. The increase and de- 

 crease of fertility in land are governed by laws as uniform and 

 enduring, as those that cause the earth to revolve on its axis. 

 A moment's reflection will suffice to convince you that farmers 

 deal with matter in all its known forms. 



The mass of soil, so often operated upon by the implements 

 of husbandry, is composed of insoluble minerals. A part is 

 made up of the remains of plants and animals, which is called 

 mould, or organic matter. In all fertile land, a portion of this 

 mould and of the earthy minerals in the soil, is soluble in rain 

 water. The farmer deals constantly with both soluble and in- 

 soluble, organic and inorganic elements. He deals also with 

 water in all its forms of ice, snow, vapor, frost, and as a liquid ; 

 with atmospheric gases, and all that emanate from decaying 

 plants and animals ; with solids endowed with vitality in the 

 tissues of living beings ; with solar light and heat, sunshine, 

 clouds and storms ; and with imiumerable diseases and insects 

 that attack all his crops, and all his domestic animals. 



If a well developed intellect and strong reasoning powers are 

 useful in any pursuit, they must be eminently so in that of the 

 husbandman. It is to your understanding of rural affairs that 

 I shall talk, in plain language, as one farmer does to another, 

 with a view to unfold the principles of agricultural science, and 

 show their relations to the every-day practises on the farm. 



Among the many objects that have attracted my attention in 



