PREFACE. vii 



retained in the service of improved cultivation. Let others 

 throw side-lights upon his subject, and let him thankfully 

 accept the helpful ray ; but let him beware of being dazzled 

 by the light, and of removing his eye from where it falls, to 

 wander in search of its source. This is the grand evil of the 

 application of science to agriculture, and it has proved a 

 pit-fall both for those who profess and for those who study 

 her. A theorist or a scientific agriculturalist are too often 

 synonyms for those who are ignorant of agriculture as a 

 pursuit, and who pose rather as scientists explaining pheno- 

 mena, than as enlightened agriculturalists teaching old and 

 new methods. 



The following pages only deal with a small and funda- 

 mental portion of the vast subject of agriculture. So far as 

 they go, they are intended to point out the principles which 

 guide the practice of agriculturalists and the considerations 

 which weigh with them. They are intended also to gratefully 

 acknowledge and appreciatively notice the bearings of science 

 upon our pursuit. A chemist cannot profess agriculture, and 

 an agriculturalist cannot profess chemistry; but the inter- 

 dependencies as well as the individuality of each subject must 

 be acknowledged and respected. 



I must ask my readers' indulgence for the method of 

 treatment, which is somewhat different from what would 

 have been adopted had these pages emanated entirely from 

 the pen. They were delivered orally, and are published by 

 request. They are consequently popular in style, and a 

 certain amount of summary and repetition became necessary. 



