1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



147 



LEGISLATIVE AGRICULTUBAL 



MEETING. 

 On the occasion of the first meeting, we were 

 absent, in attendance upon the meetings of the 

 U. S. Agricultural Society at Washington. Sick- 

 ness prevented us from attending the meeting 

 on Tuesday evening, and not having been able 

 to secure the services of a competent reporter, we 

 take the following account of the meeting from 

 the Daily Journal : 



The second Legislative Agricultural meeting 

 was held on Tuesday evening, in the hall of the 

 House of Representatives. 



Hon. Marshall P. Wilder presided. On tak- 

 ing the chair, he expressed his pleasure In being 

 able to take a part in the discussions incident to 

 the series of meetings in progress. He then an- 

 nounced the subject of the evening's discussion, 

 and proceeded to speak of the Chinese Sugar 

 Cane. Too much had been expected of this plant, 

 but considering the backward condition of its 

 congener, Indian Corn, the past season, the ex- 

 periment of Its culture might be considered suc- 

 cessful. It had been well ascertained that its 

 culture for syrup was extremely profitable. That 

 it would crystalize had also been well demon- 

 strated by J. S. Lovering, of Philadelphia, from 

 a letter of whom extracts were read. His exper- 

 iments covered 67 days. The cane which was 

 cut from the 2d to the 6th of November yielded 

 a juice which crystallzed with the greatest facility. 

 Specimens of fine, dry brown sugar and excellent 

 loaf sugar of his raising were exhibited. It grew 

 at the rate of 1221 lbs. to the acre, beside 74 gal- 

 lons of syrup. He found the best time to cut 

 the plant to be when most if not all the seeds 

 are ripe, and after several frosts. 



In concluding, Mr. Wilder introduced to the 

 audience Mr. Leonard Wray, of London, a 

 gentleman well known in connection with the 

 subject under discussion. j\Ir. Wray said that 

 the African Imphee was undoubtedly identical 

 with the Chinese plant. His experience as a 

 sugar planter In East and West Indies confirmed 

 the statement of Mr. Lovering in regard to the 

 best time of cutting the plant. He believed the 

 plant had a great future In this country, and the 

 result of the crude experiments which had been 

 tried should not be taken as tests. The African 

 Imphee would not only produce bountifully of 

 syrup, but wonderfully so of grain, and was one 

 of the greatest blessings God ever gave to man. 



Mr. Lake, of Topsficld, said the cane should 

 be planted upon warm soil. Cane grown on high 

 land had more of the saccharine matter. The 

 plant. If partially dried before the juice was ex- 

 pressed, yielded more saccharine matter. There 

 was no doubt about the profit of the crop, and 

 the speaker predicted next season an increase of 

 one-third over the crop of last season. 



The meeting was also addressed by Dr. Charles 

 T. Jackson, who coincided with the previous 

 speakers as to the crystalizing properties of the 

 plant, the time at which it should be cut, and the 

 probable success of its culture. 



]Mr. BUCKMINSTER, of the Ploughman, exhib- 

 ited a new specimen of squash, called the "Hub- 

 bard," possessing a hard shell, and a fine, yellow 

 grain. 



At the next meeting the topic of discussion 

 will be "The cultivation of the Sugar Beet." 

 Mr. Wray is expected to give the meeting some 

 of the results of his observations of this culture. 



We hope to be able to give a fuller report next 

 week, and to keep our readers as well informed 

 as in former years, of the doings at these meet- 

 ings. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 DR. LOBING'S REPORT— SCIENCE AND 

 EXPERIENCE. 

 BY WILSON FLAGG. 



All true science is based upon facts. It may 

 receive numerous hints and suggestions from 

 theory and hypothesis, but facts are the only tests 

 of truth. Though many great philosophers have 

 not been "practical men," they have always es- 

 tablished their opinions upon facts which they 

 have diligently gathered from the experience and 

 observation of others. If a by-stander be a phi- 

 losopher, he gains a great deal more knowledge 

 from those who are busy around him, in their re- 

 spective employments, than they can learn who 

 are at work ; for while their attention is necessa- 

 rily confined to their own occupation, he is learn- 

 ing something from every one of them. Facts 

 may be learned in a multitude of ways : — from 

 the experience of others, from our own experi- 

 ence and practice, and from experiments purpose- 

 ly made to ascertain the correctness of a theory 

 or a doubtful assertion. It is evident that facts 

 gathered entirely from one's own experience and 

 practice, must necessarily be very limited, be- 

 cause they are confined to the narrow sphere of 

 his own avocations. He only can obtain a com- 

 prehensive knowledge of facts M'ho devotes him- 

 self to the collection of them from the multitudes 

 among whom they are scattered. 



The true method of forming a system of agri- 

 culture, based on practical experience, is not 

 therefore to become a practical farmer, but to 

 collect from the whole mass of intelligent farmers 

 all the facts which they have learned from their 

 own practice. It is thus the wisdom of the whole 

 is brought into one view, and each individual is 

 enabled to profit from every one's experience. It 

 is not to be assumed that every farmer, however 

 Intelligent, knows all the facts which would be 

 necessary to constitute the ground-work of a per- 

 fect system of agriculture. But among all the 

 farmers in the country, there is a vast amount of 

 practical information, not yet recorded in books, 

 which if gathered into a volume and systema- 

 tized, would be of immense value. Almost every 

 man has learned some fact which is unknown to 

 the generality of those who pursue the same oc- 

 cupation. Almost every man has some experi- 

 ence, with which no other person is so well ac- 

 quainted as himself. Suppose every farmer in a 

 certain county has obtalnec" the knoAvIedgc of one 

 important fact, and only one, and that no other 

 person knows this feet ; while each man's knowl- 

 edge Is thus confined to himself, It is of no ser- 

 vice to the (iommunlty. But were some person 

 of intelligent and scientific mind to go round and 

 gather all these facts, classify and arrange them 

 in a clear and intelligible manner, and then read 

 them to an audience of all these farmers — what 



