PROF. C. U. SHEPHARD'S ADDRESS. 257 



the sources of springs, the origin of soils, the laws of electricity, 

 together with vegetable and animal physiology. It is not de- 

 nied, tl at much is understood on all these subjects, as well as 

 upon those which have been noticed more at large ; what is 

 complained of is this, that the current facts are not systemati- 

 cally acquired, or arranged in the mind under their appropriate 

 principles. The consequence is, that a majority of them are in- 

 operative. They are rarely at command when they might prove 

 of service, and are even incompetent to suggest any thing in 

 advance of themselves. Unarranged facts, by the side of gen- 

 eral principles, are like mob-force when compared with that of 

 disciplined troops. What we so much want is, an intelligent 

 comprehension of a few governing principles. About these, all 

 related facts will cluster spontaneously, as iron-filings gather 

 round the poles of a magnet; and the principles, like the mag- 

 netic needle, will be sure to point the right way? 



I am aware that there are some, who will have it that the 

 cultivator has no business with scientific knowledge, and who 

 maintain that dry rules are enough to meet his wants. Passing 

 by the moral disrespect implied in such an opinion, it will be 

 enough to say, that the farmer is required for the most part to 

 supply his own rules of thrift. There is no great fountain of 

 wisdom and beneficence in the learned professions, in the other 

 arts, or in the state, from whence the needed information may 

 flow forth. On the contrary, the improvement must be made 

 by those who want it, — by those who are to experience its 

 greatest benefit. And when it is made, it will often be found, 

 not to consist in a few summary processes, so plain and easy as 

 to secure immediate and universal success, but rather in a scru- 

 pulous attention to petty details, before overlooked, but which, 

 in the light of science, are perceived, to be of prime importance 

 to the grand result. The common farmer, without such light, 

 will of course keep on in the old routine. As he lacks the 

 faith in natural laws, he cannot be expected to manifest that 

 constant vigilance and enduring patience, on which alone the 

 improved success attends. No : nothing can be more certain 

 than the fact, that, if the farmer is to reach a higher grade of in- 

 dependence, it can only be the result of an education, in some 

 33 



