86 Farmers^ Miscellany. [Jan., 



Fearful of being behind the age, many agriculturists who had 

 turned their attention to science, added their voices to the general 

 cry. The prospect seemed to be very fair, that with a few point- 

 ed wires about his farm, a man might rob Jove of his fires and 

 convert them to the harmless and economical purposes of the con- 

 tents of the barn-yard and pig-sty, and that the immense stores of 

 guano must still be unused upon the desolate and barren islands 

 of the ocean, till this new source of manure was exhausted. 



It is strange to what expedients men will resort, to avoid or 

 render null the primal curse — to escape labor. It is strange that 

 they will try, over and over again, the same hopeless projects, to 

 fail in the end and be laughed at. The bubble bursts at length. 

 It is decided that there is no certain efficacy to be attributed to 

 the electric fluid. It has indeed seemed in some cases, that an in- 

 crease of the germinative and vegetative power was obtained, but 

 in others, under the same circumstances, no extraordinary effects 

 were produced, whilst in some, it has even seemed to retard ger- 

 mination in seeds. 



The conclusion is, that nothing is to be expected in the premi- 

 ses. But there is one important lesson to be derived from the 

 rage for electricity. In giving account of experiments, great 

 care should be taken to detail all the circumstances connected 

 with their trial, so that the effects of one cause may not be mis- 

 taken for those of another. It is evident from the success of some 

 and the failure of others, that in one case causes have been at 

 work which were not in the other. What were these causes? 

 This the conductor of the experiment, too much absorbed in 

 watching for the effects of electricity, has neglected to notice. 



To remain forever in the field of nature, without catching a 

 spiritual glimpse of the invisible Author, would be an irreparable 

 loss to the soul, and our attainments would only reach a little 

 above the sensual — the perishable: we should stop short of the 

 possession of that crowning acquirement, rest and peace. 



