INTRODUCTION. XI 



Not many years ago all our knowledge of agriculture 

 consisted of the loose notions handed down by tradition from 

 father to son; mere experience was considered a sufficient 

 guide, and every attempt to apply science to the investigation 

 of the interesting phenomena of vegetation, and to the causes 

 upon which the non-productiveness or fertility of a soil 

 depends was sneered at by the farmer. By the great body 

 of the farmers the remarks of the chemist were regarded as 

 useless theories, and *' book- farming" was considered as 

 unworthy the attention of practical men. Within these 

 few years, however, a great change has taken place in the 

 disposition with which the application of science to agricul- 

 ture was formerly regarded; and, what other arguments 

 could not accomplish, the necessities of a rapidly increasing 

 population, and the anxious struggle to render the produce 

 of the soils of the country sufficient for their support, have 

 been effiictual in producing. In England and Scotland large 

 sums of money were expended in the improvement of 

 the mechanical condition of the soil; the field, unproductive 

 from excessive moisture, was drained — new implements for 

 breaking up and pulverising the heavy clay soils were 

 invented — the thorough drain, the subsoil plough, and the 

 clod crusher, were introduced and proved most valuable 

 auxiliaries ; places at one time considered hopelessly barren 

 were brought into cultivation, and the hill sides were gradually 

 covered with the nutritious grain. The introduction, first of 

 bones and next of guano, and the advantages which 

 followed their application, did much towards unsettling the 

 traditional notions of the husbandman. But, after the use 

 of bones had been continued for some years, it was found 

 that their application was not unifomily successful ; that in 

 one field they produced luxuriant crops, but had scarcely 

 any efiect in another place. The effect of the application 

 of guano was also observed to be different in different soils, 

 and in some cases totally to disappoint expectation. In 

 some parts of the country also, where lime, which had been 

 introduced as a fertilizer, was applied, it was found nearly 

 useless; while, in other districts again, its beneficial operation 

 was most remarkal)le. In the uncertainty into which the 

 farmer was thrown by such puzzling and apparently contra- 

 dictory results, which threatened to interrupt the progi^^s 

 of improvement, he was induced to turn for assistance lo 



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