188 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



year for the purpose of investigating the resources 

 and properties of her soil, and the varieties and 

 value of its vegetable and agricultural produc- 

 tions. For fifty years it has been known that lime 

 is a most important element of fertility ; and dur- 

 ing all that time it has been important to ascertain 

 the least quantity of this mineral that will suffice 

 in common soils for all useful purposes. In the 

 county in New York where the speaker lived, the 

 soil contained more lime than the soil of New 

 England ; and according to the census of 1850, 

 that county produced 500,000 bushels of wheat, 

 more than was raised in all New England. Does 

 not this fact exemplify the importance of knowing 

 the difl'erence between one soil and another 1 What 

 is there to prevent the farmers of jNIassachusetts 

 from comparing tons of their soil with that of the 

 West 1 Do they not need an increase of their pre- 

 sent knowledge on this subject 1 They may exhibit 

 year after year fat cattle, fine stock and handsome 

 fruit, but agricultural fairs are the least useful of 

 all agencies for the advancement of agricultural 

 science. It requires more profound research than 

 such exhibitions ever witness. A public institu- 

 tion is needed, which shall teach to one class of 

 students all that is known in the rural arts and 

 sciences ; and to another,' how to interrogate na- 

 ture, and advance science and art from things 

 known to things unknown. One department should 

 be well adapted to the labor of imparting knowl- 

 edge to all interested in the subject. The other de- 

 partment should be confined to experiments and 

 analyses for developing new facts in the mineral, 

 vegetable and animal kingdoms. With each of 

 these kingdoms, the farmer has much to do ; 

 hence, he should be acquainted with the laws of 

 each ; but he can never learn them except by 

 means of associated scientific observations. Few 

 farmers make any useful additions to the science 

 of agriculture ; audit would seem necessary, there- 

 fore, to employ men whose talents, genius and ed- 

 ucation peculiarly fit them for such service. Ag- 

 ricultural economy now presents a most inviting 

 field for making important discoveries, and achiev- 

 ing a lasting reputation. 



As an illustration of what might be determined 

 by scientific investigation, the lecturer remarked 

 that 100 pounds of wheat or corn consumed a giv- 

 en weight of soil ; and he had great confidence in 

 the force of science to determine how much of 

 mould and how much of minerals had been con- 

 sumed in the growth of plants. 



The point to be solved is this ; how much of the 

 substance of the soil is absorbed to make 100 

 pounds of ripe wheat or corn, or other crop? IIow 

 much of the nourishment of the plant is drawn 

 from the atmosphere, and what and how much 

 from tlie earth'? By proper experimenting, there is 

 no difficulty in ascertaining how plants grow. 



If it be admitted that this matter ought to be 



studied, as a part of our profession, the question 

 may be asked, how and where should it be studied, 

 and by whom ? When it is admitted that any 

 branch of knowledge is worthy of study, then it 

 is also admitted that a school is needed to facilitate 

 such study. An agricultural school is not an 

 end, but a means to attain an end. It is not 

 enough to purchase a farm for experimental pur- 

 poses. It should be supplied with scientific appa- 

 ratus, and students, and the public should have a 

 clear understanding of the whole economy and la- 

 bors of the school, so that no one may be disap- 

 pointed in the results. The Professors should be 

 tlioroughly qualified to dischargc^their duties. 

 The want of men qualified for such positions, the 

 speaker remarked, has long been felt. There is 

 a plenty of material in the country that may be 

 used to increase agricultural science, but it is a 

 little too raw for immediate use. Before he had 

 had an opportunity of seeing Congress, he had 

 hoped that it would establish an institution de- 

 signed to furnish a thorough agricultural educa- 

 tion to young men, who should become the educa- 

 tors of the Avhole country — that a national nor- 

 mal school of agriculture might be established to 

 furnish teachers for all the States. It is a poor 

 compliment to republican America that we are 

 compelled to go to monarchical Europe to learn 

 the very rudiments of agricultural science. Ag- 

 ricultural Physiology is important to the farmer, 

 but no work on the subject was ever published in 

 America, and but one in England, and that a poor 

 book. Europe does not furnish text books adapt- 

 ed to the wants of an American institution. 



It is far more desirable that scientific men should 

 make additions to our knowledge, than labor to 

 extend the present knowledge to the many. The 

 discoveries of Liebig in practical chemistry creat- 

 ed a greater amount of interest and resulted in 

 more benefit than could be accomplished by a hun- 

 dred teachers of old facts. The speaker regarded 

 the increase of knowledge — that is, the develop- 

 ment of new facts illustrative of agriculture, — as 

 the point now to be pursued. And how is it to 

 be done? He thought ws should unite the high- 

 est scientific attainments in the country with the 

 highest practical attainments among farmers. 

 Bring the two together— have then work in con- 

 cert. The man of science will go astray. Liebig 

 generalized facts prematurely, and the result was 

 he fell into error, and brought rural science itself 

 somewhat into disrepute. 



Experiments show that a j^lant takes but a very 

 small 250rtion of its food from the soil ; it draws 

 its chief nourishment from the atmosphere and 

 water. Science has demostrated that one-half of 

 the weight of all our agricultural plants is noth- 

 ing but the elements of water, oxygen and hydro- 

 gen, and four-fifths of the other parts are carbon, 

 or coal. Nine-tenths of the wood of plants are 



