108 



Agricultural Address. 



Vol. X. 



ness by opening the channels of social inter- 

 course, and prosperity by developing the 

 productions of labour and of art, the experi- 

 ence of all lands is thrown open to our ex- 

 amination ; the farmer is no longer the se- 

 cluded occupant of a narrow vale ; he no 

 longer follows the ancient routine which 

 custom had prescribed. 



The diffusion of knowledge, which has 

 changed the aspect of civilization, has raised 

 agriculture to an art; an art which is fos- 

 tered by every science, and to which dili- 

 gent attention is paid, as well by statesmen 

 as philosophers. But with all the aid of 

 science, the principle still remains unshaken, 

 that agriculture is an art dependant upon 

 actual experience. It is true that the geol- 

 ogist and the mineralogist teach us wherein 

 the difference and the value of different soils 

 consist. It is true that the chemist has done, 

 and is daily doing, much to direct us in the 

 application or preparation of manures. The 

 botanist also ascertains important facts in 

 the physiology of plants, as does the zoolo- 

 gist in the animal kingdom. It is true that 

 science is thus, and in many ways, shedding 

 a flood of light and pointing the way to fu- 

 ture improvements: but the practical appli- 

 cation must, nevertheless, be always tested 

 and ascertained by the careful hand of the 

 farmer in his fields. 



I would not for a moment be understood 

 as undervaluing the labours of scientific 

 men. Far be it from me, or from you, gen- 

 tlemen, to cherish any contempt for the dis- 

 coveries which careful analysis or diligent 

 investigation is every day bringing to light. 

 The province of science and the province of 

 art, however intimately related, are separate, 

 and their bounds may be clearly defined. 

 Practical agriculture is an art, and is to be 

 conducted by rules of practice. There are 

 few who have the means and the leisure to 

 study this branch of knowledge as a science. 

 And if so, it is, of necessity, theoretic, and 

 must be confined to the study, and is of little 

 use to the grower of grain, or the feeder of 

 cattle. What we ask of the chemist or the 

 botanist, are the results of his investigation. 

 If the former assure us that a loose and 

 finely divided soil retains moisture better 

 than when settled and compact: and if, in 

 dry weather, experience proves that the 

 well-harrowed corn thrives the better, we 

 have then a practical rule of no little value. 

 If the botanist give us, as the result of his 

 inquiries, that the tender rootlets of many 

 plants are injured by the settling of the 

 fresh-ploughed soil; and we find that wheat, 

 in fact, stools best upon a seed-bed prepared 

 ten days before sowing, we acquire another 

 rule. But when the chemist tells us that 



ammonia is the food of all plants after the 

 first germination and young shoots, we have 

 made no acquisition, important as the disco- 

 very in itself may be. We must wait till, 

 happily, some more practical adept shall 

 give us an artificial manure of which am- 

 monia may be the chief ingredient. This 

 done, and the farmer perceives at once its 

 value; and he either rejects or varies, or 

 adopts the rule as it answers to the proof. 



But while we unhesitatingly reject mere 

 theory, and with it all those discoveries of 

 science which do not present themselves in 

 a practicable form to the farmer — while we 

 reject these from practice, we would not re- 

 ject them from the fireside. On the con- 

 trary, the winter evening can in no way be 

 more pleasantly and profitably employed, in 

 general, than by the study of agricultural 

 chemistry, and other kindred branches. 

 Farmers are well known to be sober-mind- 

 ed, and it is not very likely that they will 

 carry their theories into the field, however 

 they may spend their leisure in their books. 



Besides tlie treatises which we have on 

 chemistry, husbandry, cattle, horses, and the 

 like, there is a class of publications which 

 has a strong claim upon his attention, inas- 

 much as they present to the farmer the ac- 

 tual experience of men in his own vicinity — 

 I refer to the periodicals; such as the Farm- 

 ers' Cabinet. I am aware that in such pub- 

 lications much that is of little value may find 

 place; it is unavoidable. Many a season- 

 able hint, many a prudent suggestion, many 

 useful directions, many valuable improve- 

 ments, endorsed by genuine practical farm- 

 ers, are, however, given; and the cheap rate 

 of the paper I have named, and its being de- 

 signed for the use of those in the vicinity of 

 Philadelphia, entitle it to a preference over 

 more distant periodicals, and to a general 

 subscription throughout this region. 



There is a healthy tone of feeling among 

 farmers which is seldom found among any 

 other class. "Tricks in all trades but ours," 

 is a common proverb; a sarcasm which may 

 be thrown in the teeth of almost any trade 

 or profession, excepting that of agriculture. 

 Here there are no mysteries to be kept as 

 the " secrets" of the trade. Each is ready 

 to impart all the knowledge he possesses. 

 Every improvement in culture is immedi- 

 ately made known. What has been ac- 

 quired by repeated experiment, at whatever 

 expense or risk, is forthwith communicated 

 far and wide. The stranger is welcome to 

 all the added experience of the neighbour- 

 hood into which he comes. Emulation does 

 not degenerate into mean and ungenerous 

 rivalry. Hence in these associations all 

 come with a perfect confidence that there 



