No. 4.] BOARDS OF AGRICULTURE. 31 



"While it is true that the science of agriculture in this 

 country is still in its infancy, and men who have spent a 

 life in its study have mastered a small part of it, yet even 

 the few principles that have been taught will be of vast 

 benefit to its students, and through their influence to all 

 with whom they associate. The studies in plant growth 

 will cause a deeper interest in the crops produced. Each 

 period in the growth of a field of corn will be watched with 

 more intelligence and be the cause of greater satisfaction, 

 because of the knowledge of cause and effect. The study 

 of the origin and composition of soils will lead to an 

 enthusiastic appreciation of the wealth of nitrogen, phos- 

 phoric acid and potash stored up in the dirty acres of the 

 old farm, and the best method of making it available for 

 man's uses will be changed thereby from seeming drudgery 

 to feelings of honor and respect. The knowledge that 

 has been gained by the practical study of entomology will 

 lead the young farmer to look upon bugs and creeping 

 things of a destructive nature with little dread, for he 

 knows their habits, and, with the scientific application of 

 known remedies, he conducts his business with feelings 

 of assurance, and is master of the situation. Those prin- 

 ciples of stock feeding that are recognized authority the 

 world over are made interesting and even attractive from 

 the application given in farmers' institutes and agricultural 

 educational institutions. 



When we consider the intricate problem of drainage, and 

 compare the former process with the recent developments 

 whereby all surplus water is taken from soil with the least 

 possible outlay of time and money, reducing the operation 

 almost to the nicety of an art; when we for a moment 

 reflect upon the marvellous developments that have been 

 made in the study of forestry, and the vast financial returns 

 that could accrue to the forest owners of the country from 

 an intelligent and systematic harvesting of their forest prod- 

 ucts ; when we call to mind the principles that have been 

 established in regard to the sources of plant food and the 

 various means of supplying needed fertility, coupled with 

 the fact that a well-known experiment station recently states 

 in a bulletin that the farmers of that State are annually 



