452 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



the analysis of tlie soil, in the present state of chemical 

 science, to be of little or no practical value to the farmer. 

 Well, men sometimes ascend the hill of science to such a height, 

 that they do not see objects palpable to others, who stand 

 below the mist-clouds that always envelop its summit. Thus 

 Dr. Dionysius Lardner had proved, to his own private satisfac- 

 tion, and that of his school, the impossibility of navigating the 

 Atlantic with steam, when he was roused from his reverie by 

 the signal guns of the " Sirius," as, unimpeded by the conclu- 

 sions of the philosopher, she sailed into the bay of New York. 



Then, again, scientific men of equal eminence have declared 

 it to be an invaluable and an indispensable aid to the farmer ; 

 and " who shall decide when doctors disagree ?" When men 

 of high scientific attainments and unimpeachable character 

 assure us that an analysis of our soil, sufficiently accurate for 

 all practical purposes, can be made, and is made, we are war- 

 ranted in overlooking the denials of many others. Indeed, it 

 appears to me, from a glance at the array of authorities on 

 either side, that the opponents of soil analysis, are chiefly men 

 of the closet; while its friends are, not only men of equal 

 standing as chemists, but withal, practical agriculturists. 



For my single self, I am not ashamed to believe with such 

 men as Liebig, Boussingault, Johnston and others, in Europe ; 

 and with Charles T. Jackson, Norton, Mapes, Enderlin, Porter, 

 Horsford, and many more, in our own land. 



The second objection urged against the value of an analysis 

 of your soil, is, that the quality of the soil on difl"erGnt parts 

 of the same farm, and often on the same field, greatly varies. 



This, at first sight, seems plausible ; but we know that the 

 chief variation is in the proportionate quantities of sand, clay, 

 &c., and it is not with these, that the analyst has chiefly to do. 

 Allowing alumina (clay) and silex (sand) to constitute ninety 

 per cent, of any soil, in any proportion ; it is rather with the 

 remaining ten per cent, that the chemist deals. And the soil 

 of a farm that has been in the same hands for a course of 

 years — every field subjected, as is usual, to the same treatment 

 in rotation — will be found to be very similar, one field to 

 another, in all respects other than a predominance of clay, or 

 sand, or the like. 



