AGRICULTTTRAL CHEMISTRY. 



47 



ever applied in a proper manner, must 

 produce advantages. In proportion as 

 science advances, all the principles become 

 less complicated, and consequently more 

 useful. And it is then that their applica- 

 tion is most advantageously made to the 

 arts. The common labourer can never be 

 enlightened by the general doctrines of 

 philosophy, but he will not refuse to adopt 

 any practice, of the utility of which he is 

 fully convinced, because it has been found- 

 ed upon these principles. 



The mariner can trust to the compass, 

 though he may be wholly unacquainted 

 with the discoveries of Gilbert on Magnet- 

 ism, or the refined principles of that sci- 

 ence developed by the genius of ^pinus. 

 The dyer will use his bleaching liquor, 

 even though he is ignorant not only of the 

 constitution, but even of the name of the 

 substance on which its powers depend. 

 The great purpose of chemical investiga- 

 tion in agriculture, ought undoubtedly to 

 be the discovery of improved methods of 

 cultivation. But to this end, general sci- 

 entific principles and practical knowledge 

 are alike necessary. The germs of dis- 

 covery are often found in rational specu- 

 lations; and industry is never so efficacious 

 as when assisted by science. 



It is from the higher classes of the com- 

 munity, from the proprietors of land; those 

 who are fitted by their education to form 

 enlightened plans, and by their fortunes 

 to carry such plans into execution; it is 

 from these that the principles of improve- 

 ment must flow to the labouring classes of 

 the community ; and in all cases the ben- 

 efit is mutual; for the interest of the ten- 

 antry must be always likewise the inter- 

 est of the proprietors of the soil. The at- 

 tention of the labourer will be more min- 

 ute, and he will exert him.self more for 

 improvement when he is certain he can- 

 not deceive his employer, and has a con- 

 viction of the extent of his knowledge. 

 Ignorance in the possessor of an estate of 

 the manner in which it ought to be treat- 

 ed, often leads either to inattention or in- 

 judicious practices in the tenant or the 

 bailiff. 



There is no idea more unfounded than 

 that a great devotion of time, and minute 

 knowledge of general chemistry is neces- 

 sary for pursuing experiments on the na- 



ture of soils or the properties of manures. 

 Nothing can be more easy than to discov- 

 er whether a soil effervesces, or changes 

 colour by the action of an acid, or wheth- 

 er it burns when heated; or what weight 

 it looses by heat: and yet these simple in- 

 dications may be of great importance in 

 a system of cultivation. The expense con- 

 nected with chemical enquiries is extreme- 

 ly trifling; a small closet is sufficient for 

 containing all the materials required. The 

 most important experiments may be made 

 by means of a small portable apparatus; a 

 few vials, a few acids, a lamp and a cruci- 

 ble are all that are necessary, as I shall 

 endeavor to prove to you, in the course of 

 these lectures. 



It undoubtedly happens in agricultural 

 chemical experiments conducted after the 

 most refined theoretical views, that there 

 are many instances of failure, for one of 

 success; and this is inevitable from the 

 capricious and uncertain nature of the cau- 

 ses that operate, and from the impossibil- 

 ity of calculating on all the circumstances 

 that may interfere; but this is far from 

 proving the inutility of such trials; one 

 happy result which can generally improve 

 the methods of cultivation is worth the la- 

 bour of a whole life; and an unsuccessful 

 experiment well observed, must establish 

 some truth, or tend to remove some pre- 

 judice. 



Even considered merely as a philosoph- 

 ical science, this department of knowledge 

 is highly worthy of cultivation. For 

 what can be more delightful than to trace 

 the forms of living beings and their adap- 

 tations and peculiar purposes; to examine 

 the progress of inorganic matter in its dif- 

 ferent processes of change, till it attain its 

 ultimate and highest destination; its sub- 

 serviency to the purposes of man. 



Many of the sciences are ardently pur- 

 sued, and considered as proper objects of 

 study for all refined minds, merely on ac- 

 count of the intellectual pleasure they af- 

 ford; merely because they enlarge our 

 views of nature, and enable us to think 

 more correctly with respect to the beings 

 and objects surrounding us. How much 

 more then is this department of enquiry 

 worthy of attention ; in which the pleasure 

 resulting from the love of truth and of 

 knowledge is as great as in any other 



