SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 163 



SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. 



THE FARMERS' LIBRAUY-OUSEKVATIONS ON STEl'IlENS'S BOOK OF THE FAUM. 



John 9. Skinner, Esq. Montgomery, Oiangc Co., N. Y., August 21, 1846. 



Dear Sir : In the July and Au2^ust numbers of your excellent periodical, The 

 Farmers' Library, you have published the excellent work of Mr. ytephcns, en- 

 titled " The Book of the Farm" — a work entitled to hi<j[h praise lor its practical 

 good sense, taken as a whole ; althou2;Ii I think the author somewhat in error 

 in some of his remarks in relation to the benefits to be derived by Ai^riculture 

 from science. Even in this respect I believe him to be in the main correct, the 

 error being in stating his opinions in terms too general, which would be strictly 

 true if more guardedly expressed. It would be truly lamentable if the business 

 of Agriculture were not susceptible of improvement by the aid of science. The 

 most necessary, and, I also think, the most ennobling, occupation of man would 

 thus be sunk below almost every other of his pursuits; because human pursuits 

 are noble or humble in proportion to the amount of intellect they require for 

 their successful prosecution. If to be an eminent farmer only requires good ma- 

 nipulations of the present modes of Agriculture, without any hope of improve- 

 ment from science to lead and direct practice, the business of Agriculture has 

 arrived at a point to repel liberally-educated men from pursuing it as an occupa- 

 tion. That science has hitherto done but little, directly, for Agriculture, is freely 

 confessed ; but how long has science been directly devoted to this object i The 

 time has been so short, and the dithculties of the subject so great, that the won- 

 der is rather that Davy, Boussingault, Liebig, Johnstone and Dana have done so 

 much to prepare the subject for future laborers, than that they have done so lit- 

 tle. Every thing must have a beginning. Astronomy had its origin in astrology, 

 and chemistry in alchemy ; but now we can calculate the distance of Sirius, and 

 detect the curious isomeric laws of organic matter — now we have got beyond a 

 knowledge of not only the Solar and Astral Systems, and are enabled to specu- 

 late rationally about nebular systems — beyond a knowledge of primitive earths, 

 to the metalloids which constitute their bases. Vegetable and animal physiology 

 and chemistry are yet in their infancies, but they are quite as robust and as prom- 

 ising as any of their predecessors at the same age — nay, it may be said, more ro- 

 bust and promising, because, instead of being fed with the stimulating diet oi" 

 their predecessors, a more rich, nourishing, and simple food is presented to them 

 as the fruits and joint offerings of all of their predecessors. 



But, apart from these considerations, " The Book of the Farm*' is written with 

 sound practical judgment. The error is on the right side, as practice without 

 theory is safer than theory put in practice without experience. The matter, how- 

 ever, to which I especially desire to ask attention, is the combination of practice- 

 and theory he recommends for the education of youth for agricultural pursuits as- 

 an occupation. His remarks on this subject are eminently practical and useful. 

 " Experimental farms as places for instruction in farming" he very properly con- 

 demns. But I think he should have been more particular in defining what he 

 considered an experimental farm. I regard that an experimental farm upon 

 which are collected, for practical instruction, more pupils than can he profitably 

 and economically employed in the several branches of Agricultvre conducted on 

 such farm, by the easy labor of the farm hands and the pupils. If there are 

 more pupils than can be profitably employed, the excess cannot acquire practical 

 information ; or, if they should be employed, the whole number will acquire imr- 

 perfect knowledge. This observation applies with equal force to the practical' 

 farmer who takes twenty, or even five pupils, if he has not profitable and eco- 

 nomical employment for them, as to the institution which takes one or two hun- 

 dred pupils. They differ only in degree. The practical farmer havinsf more pu- 

 pils than he can profitably employ will probably turn olT many slovenly, careless 

 and imperfect farmers ; but the institution with one or two hundred pupils will 

 probably turn otY many experimental farmers — a class who soon waste an estate, 

 become disgusted with their business, and bring agricultural science to shame. 



The economy of a farm has a wider signification than is usually attributed to 



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