348 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



For the New England Farmer. 



SCIENCE AND THE FAEMER. 



The farmer should understand geology. He 

 should know the composition and structure of the 

 rocks which constitute so large a part of the soil 

 which he cultivates. He should know the nature 

 of the rocks in all the region around him, and what 

 kind of soil they will produce, when worn down by 

 the action of the sun and rain and frost. If the 

 mountains and hills that look down upon his farm 

 contain marble or granite or slate or iron, he 

 should know that these minerals, which have been 

 upheaved from the bowels of the earth, are being 

 annually spread over the valleys and plains that lie 

 at their feet, by the drenching rains and melting 

 snows which wash their declivities. He should know 

 how to select those soils whose mineral composi- 

 tion is best suited to particular croi)s, and to deter- 

 mine when they contain mineral elements that un- 

 fit them for his purposes. 



He should know what is a sandy loam, and what 

 a clayey loam, and of what each consists. He 

 should know what is an alluvial soil, and what min- 

 eral elements it contains in any given locality. — 

 The farmer should understand the leading princi- 

 ples of chemistry in general, and all about those 

 particular principles that are ap])licable to agricul- 

 ture. The earth is not a mere dead mass of mat- 

 ter. It is a vast chemical laboratory, filled with va- 

 rious and strange materials, full of activity and mo- 

 tion, in which composition and decomposition and 

 new combinations are constantly going on. To- 

 day it receives accessions and influences from the 

 heavens, to-morrow it throws off" newly-formed ele- 

 ments, that are carried into the oceans, and depos- 

 ited upon distant shores. The earth is almost a 

 Living creature, and when quickened by atmospher- 

 ic influences, she brings forth innumerable living 

 things, infinitely diversified in form, in hue and fra- true principle upon which the plow, and every oth- 

 grance, and each derives from her bosom the nu- er implement he uses, should be constructed, that 

 triment that is suited to its character and wants; he may discover any defects in their working, and 

 truly is she called the mother of all living things, be able to suggest any improvements which they 

 The cultivator of the earth should surelv know need. He should be able to use tools in a work- 

 something of its nature, its elements, its affinities, map like manner, and thus save many a black- 

 and its diseases. smith's and tool-maker's bill, which he would oth- 



often their heai'ts beat, and how often they breathe 

 in a state of health, that he may judge how far, at 

 any time, they deviate from the healthy standard. 

 He should know the absolute and relative position 

 of all the organs, that he may the better determine 

 the seat of disease, and with more certainty apply 

 his remedies. He should know how the fat is de- 

 posited. How the bones are formed, and how the 

 muscles ; and what food or treatment will contrib- 

 ute to the most rapid growth of each ; and then the 

 knowledge of difi"erent races, and their curious his- 

 tories, and their several peculiarities, are all highly 

 impartant to the breeder of stock. The farmer 

 should have a knowledge of the diseases of his ani- 

 mals, and of the proper remedies, and should be 

 able to perform all the more common surgical o]>- 

 erations. Many a fine animal has been slaughtered, 

 because its owner could not set a bone, or bandage 

 a wound. 



The former should carefully observe the habits 

 of animals, birds and insects. Who else has so 

 good an opportunity as he to do this ? He should 

 especially study the habits and nature of the insects 

 that are injurious to vegetation, that he maybe the 

 l^etter able to defend his crops from their ravages. 

 He can scarcely be expected to be familiar with the 

 whole subject of entomology ; but he should care- 

 fully study those insects that are found in his own 

 neighborhood, and upon his own premises, and note 

 with accuracy the result of his observations for the 

 benefit of himself and his neighbors. 



The farmer should understand the general princi- 

 ples of mechanics, and particularly those that relate 

 to the structure and use of agricultural implements. 

 In ancient times, no man was considered an accom- 

 plished plowman, until he could construct his own 

 plow. In modern times, the division of labor, 

 and the use of machinery has rendered this qualifi- 

 cation unnecessarv. But he should understand the 



The farmer should be a botanist. This is the 

 natural science of the agriculturist. Can he be 

 content to spend his life in ignorance of the names 

 and properties and distinguishing characteristics of 

 the trees and shrubs and flowers that are so lavish- 

 ly spread around him, painting his fields and woods 

 with their thousand hues, and rendering this out- 

 ward world a scene of beauty ? And how does the 

 seed germinate, and the tender leaf unfold itself? 

 and in what order are the several parts of the flow- 

 er developed ? How is the blossom impregnated 

 and the fruit formed ? What wjU injure and what 

 improve each plant ? How may plants be improved 

 by engrafting, by innoculation, by crossing ? How 

 may new varieties be obtained, and old ones be 

 made better ? Can the farmer be content to leave 

 questions and such as these unanswered ? 



But vegetable physiology alone should not satis- 

 fy him. He has in his charge, and appropriated to 

 his use, some of the noblest animals upon the earth. 

 They are his companions through life, and by their 

 labor, or the products of their bodies, contribute 

 largely to his happiness and comfort. He should 

 make himself acquainted with the structure and 

 uses of their various organs. lie should know ho'v 



erwise have to pay. He should make himself fa- 

 miliar with all these, and many other branches of 

 scientific knowledge. The study of these subjects 

 will be to him an unfailing source of pleasure, and 

 cannot f lil to improve and refine all his powers and 

 sensibilities. There is no branch of knowledge that 

 will not be ser\'iceable to him. There is none from 

 which he cannot derive some hint or some law that 

 may be ap])licable to some one of his varied pur- 

 suits, and they will all tend to refine his feelings, 

 to enlarge his intellect, and to elevate him in the 

 scale of being ; and there is scarcely a branch of 

 physical science that may not be made to put mo- 

 ney into his pocket, if this is the leading object which 

 he is prn'suing. 



When our young farmers shall all be well in- 

 structed in the general principles of scientific 

 knowledge, individuals among them will acquire 

 and develop a taste for special scientific pursuits. 

 One will become distinguished as a geologist, an- 

 other as an agricultural chemist, a third will ac- 

 quire fame as a botanist, and a fourth as an ento- 

 mologist; a fifth will be distinguished as an inven- 

 tor of agricultural implements. Another will ob- 

 tain a fortune for himself, and confer inestimable 



