VOL. XI.V. NO. r?T. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER, 



291 



ciated by farmers generally as it deserves. On 

 this subject I speal< feelingly, and I thinl; iinder- 

 standinL'ly ; for by following Dr. Dana's directions 

 for making the geine of peat soluble, the produce 

 of my farm has been doubled, at an e,Kpense which 

 leaves the nett profits at least one third greater 

 than before ; and there are thousands of farms in 

 this State equally well provided with this muck and 

 equally well conditioned to be benefited by it as 

 my own. .\nd it is my firm belief that if all the 

 farmers in the State would skilfully and under- 

 standingly regulate their operations by Dr. Dana's 

 principles and rules, the agricultural products of 

 the State, without any increase of labor, would be 

 increased thirty per cent, the en.suing year. Now, 

 if such benefits have been conferred on farmers, 

 and through them on the world, by a man of sci- 

 ence, who probably never turned a furrow in the 

 field, it proves, I think, conclusively, ihe position 

 with which I started, that it is scientific men whose 

 aid agriculturists should now seek to systematize 

 facts, and to invent, establish and perfect a science 

 of agriculture, which shall guide and direct the 

 operations of husbandry as safely and directly to 

 their object, as the science of navigation does guide 

 and direct the mariner lo his distant port 

 Yours, respectfully. 



ANDREW NICHOLS. 

 Hon. Daniel P. Ki.ng. 



REPORT 



Of the Commiitee on Ihe Communication of Dr. An- 

 dreui J^'ichols. 



Your Committee have read, with great interest, 

 the able communication of Dr. Andrew Nichols, of 

 Danvers, which was referred to them at a former 

 meeting of this association, and are fully impressed 

 with the importance of the subject therein consid- 

 ered. 



Any feasable plan, having for its object the ele- 

 vation of the art of agriculture to the rank of a 

 comparatively exact science, will meet with their 

 approbation and active co-operation. 



Tliat better methods may be devised for agricul- 

 tural improvement than those which are now gen- 

 erally pursued, admits not of a doubt. A correct 

 knowledge of the nature of soils and of manures of 

 various kinds, and their adaptation to particular 

 crops, is very desirable, and such knowledge would 

 most certainly serve to advance the art of agricul- 

 ture. 



Experience is often fallacious ; and when unaid- 

 ed by the light of science, important principles are 

 sometimes overlooked by the experimenter. Hence 

 we have frequent occasion to remark, that farmers 

 from experien-e arrive at directly opposite results. 

 This may be owing to some imperfection in the ex- 

 periment and sometimes to causes unknown or not 

 appreciated by the experimenter, such as differen- 

 ces in the composition of the soils operated upon, 

 variations in the seasons, &c. There is hardly an 

 article used for manure respecting which there is 

 not a difference of opinion among good practical 

 farmers. This may be owing to errors of observa- 

 tion in some cases, but more frequently is due to 

 an essential difference in the nature of the soil, 

 compost or manures. 



Your committee are of opinion that there is no 

 subject of human knowledge more recondite than 

 the science of agriculture. No other branch of art 

 requires a more thorough knowledge of the sister 

 sciences than this. It has not suffered from any 



excess of book learning, but on the contrary stands 

 greatly in need of more. Inaccuracies which would 

 not be tolerated in any other brunch of human 

 learning, are allowed in this. Ruch- experiments 

 and cruder essays, have unfortunately been consid- 

 ered sufficiently profound for this art. 



Altliough many farmers are UTiaccpiaintcd with 

 technical jihrases, they are g<"ncrally blessed with 

 a sound understanding, and are able to overcome 

 th(! trifling obstacles which a scientific nomencla- 

 ture presents, and will value most highly such 

 terms when they have become familiar with them, 

 and discover their importance and use as means of 

 conveying dis:.iiict and definite ideas frocn one mind 

 lo another. No branch of science or art has yet 

 been able to exist without technical terms. The 

 carpenter, mason, watchmaker, or blacksmith, like 

 the astronomer, geologist or chemist, require a pe- 

 culiar language in order to communicate their ideas 

 to each other and to the world. " I'hern is no Roij- 

 al road to learning." The student of agricultural 

 chemistry must labor like others before lie can ac- 

 quire a thorough knowledge of the science. 



In order to comprehend the meaning of chemical 

 terms, the farmer must pay some attention to the 

 elements of the science, and then by Ihe aid of such 

 glossaries as should be contained in treatises of ag- 

 ricultural chemistry, he will be enabled to hold in- 

 tercourse with the elements and know them by 

 name and nature. 



Your committee concur with Dr. Nichols in his 

 suggestion as to the propriety of publishing a good 

 practical treatise on agricultural chemistry and the 

 physiology of plants. Such a work would have a 

 valuable purpose in explaining the principles of the 

 science and would prove very convenient to the 

 farmer for reference, serving to refresh his memory 

 on the subjects treated ef in scientific works. 



We are of opinion that farmers cannot make any 

 trustworthy analyses of soils or manures without 

 learning the principles of chemistry and serving a 

 regular apprenticeship to the business. As soon 

 should we think of advising the navigator to make 

 his own sextant and chronometer, as to advise the 

 farmer to attempt an analysis of his soils. The 

 short-hand methods that have been published, will 

 not shew the difference between barren and fertile 

 soils. Nothing short of a most minute and rigid 

 analysis will serve any useful purpose in agricul- 

 ture, for Ihe difference between an utterly barren 

 soil and one in the highest state of fertility, does 

 not often exceed four, and is more frequently limi- 

 ted to two per cent. ; and the slight difference of 

 composition cannot be detected by any rough ex- 

 periments. 



Now the farmer, even if he understood the art, 

 has not the time, the books, nor the apparatus re- 

 quired for such delicate work ; and he would find 

 it very poor economy, and would soon abandon his 

 researches as unsatisfactory and useless. The 

 time required by an exact chemist for the thorough 

 analysis of a soil, is not less than 14 days : more 

 frequently a still longer period is required where 

 the soil is complex in its nature. Single analyses, 

 therefore, will rarely repay the chemist for his time 

 and labor. In a well-regulated laboratory, where 

 there is a sufficiency of apparatus, from 5 to 10 

 analyses may be carried forward together, so as to 

 keep the operator constantly employed, and this is 

 the only way in which the work can be economi- 

 cally performed. 



Decided advantages then, will result from an as- 

 sociation for the purpose mentioned in the letter of 



Dr. Nichols, for the chemist would bo supplied 

 with a luimber of specimens at once, so that he 

 could operate on them at once, and thus could af- 

 ford to do the work at the lowest price. 



It is suggested by your committee, that agricul- 

 tural societies might pay their premiums on remarka- 

 ble crops or on farms, in whole or in part, at the 

 option of the successful applicant, by causing accu- 

 rate analyses of the soils to be made at the expense 

 of the society. Many distinguished agriculturists 

 would prefer such information above any cash pay- 

 ment, for they would obtain a knowledge which 

 would prove ultimately far more valuable. 



It has been suggested that it would be useful to 

 make known the usual cost of chemical analysis of 

 soils. Your committee, therefore, append the fol- 

 lowing scale for the information of the association. 



Estimate for 100 specimens. 



1. The cost of merely separating the soluble and 

 insoluble organic matters and determining their pro- 

 portions in a gross way, $1 per specimen. 



2. For the proportional analysis of a soil con- 

 taining six ingredients, the vegetable matters being 

 destroyed by burning them off in a platina crucible, 

 anil the mineral ingredients and salts being accu- 

 rately separated in proportions, according to the 

 most recent methods en. ployed by analytical chem- 

 ists, $10 per specimen. 



3. To ascertain the precise nature and propor- 

 tions of Ihe organic matters in a soil, $'20. 



4. A thorough analysis of a soil containing 12 

 ingredients, after the latest and best methods de- 

 scribed by Berzelius, $30 per specimen. 



No chemist would desire to undertake such re- 

 searches unless he received a number of specimens 

 of soil at the same time, in order that he might 

 work on as many as could be managed at once. 

 Single analyses would cost double the amount 

 above stated. 



Your committee would suggest the propriety of 

 instituting a regular course of lectures on the prin- 

 ciples ot Agricultural Chemistry, illustrated by ex- 

 periments. Such a course might be delivered in 

 Boston during the winter months, while the Legis- 

 lature should be in session, and would afford to 

 those who felt rlesirous of learning the facts and 

 principles of the science, the opportunity for ob- 

 taining a knowledge of the subject at a very rea- 

 sonable cost of time and money. If a class of 300 

 subscribers could be obtained, the tickets of admis 

 sion would not cost more than $i each — the course 

 consisting of a dozen lectures. Since it would be 

 necessary to explain the general principles of the 

 science, the course would present attractions to 

 persons w ho are not especially devoted to agricul- 

 ture, and there would be no difficulty in obtaining 

 a sufficient number of subscribers. 



In addition to such a course, it would be desira 

 ble to employ a lecturer familiar with the princi- 

 ples of Botany, to give a number of lectures on 

 that science, for the sciences being connected, one 

 serves to illustrate the other. 



The time may arrive when Boston will become 

 the seat of a college devoted to the advancement 

 of agriculture and the arts. Such an institution 

 will, when once established, prove one of the most 

 useful and popular schools in the country. 

 C. T. JACKSON, of Boston, 

 NATH'L P. DENNY, of Leicester, 

 HORACE COLLAMORE, of Pembroke, 



Boston, March, iSil. Committee. 



