MY FARM OF EDGEWOOD 



for an explanation of the favorable action of 

 gypsum." 



And in this muddle I leave our young farmer, 

 contemplating, in an abstracted manner, his 

 lime heap, and reflecting upon the wonders 

 of nature. 



Yet it is not altogether a muddle. Science 

 has failed in substantiating a theory of action 

 — only where all farm experience is equally at 

 fault ; when the two march together, they pluck 

 up triumphs by the roots. The particular ac- 

 tion of gypsum, with a safe rule for its appli- 

 cation, remains one of the mysteries of the 

 craft; and there are a great many others. 

 Science is not discredited, however, by the 

 antagonism of such men as Liebig and Bous- 

 singault. Stout men will stagger, when they 

 explore the way for us into the dark. The 

 dignity of science will suffer more from the 

 pestilent iteration of smatterers who presume 

 to solve all the riddles of nature in their own 

 little retorts. And the danger is all the greater 

 from the fact that uninstructed farmers render 

 an instinctive respect and confidence to a man 

 who professes familiarity with science. It is 

 never imagined by them, that one who would 

 write CsHiOs + 2HO for malic acid,— would 

 tell an untruth or take airs upon himself. Yet 



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