1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



315 



For tlie New England Farmer. 



DIVERSITY IN THEORY AND PRAC- 

 TICE. 



Mr. Editor : — I have often wondered why it is, 

 that in the business of agriculture, there should 

 exist among farmers such Ti chaos of theory and prac- 

 tice. It is difTieult to find two farmers who agree 

 in hardly any two of the practical operations of 

 their pursuit. And if a novice in the business 

 should judge from the various and contradictory 

 theories', and statements, and variety of results 

 from experiments, he would come to the conclusion 

 that the science, (or rather the business, of agri- 

 culture, for science it could not be called,) was as 

 inexplicable as the hidden springs of life and 

 thought. 



Modern, intelligent farmers say, '^plow deep,^' 

 but much of the wisdom of long experience says, 

 no ! unless you wa.nt to ruin your land. One 

 farmer says, top dress your highland grass ground, 

 but the thinking, calculating farmer says no, — 

 cultivate no more land than can be kept in g-)od 

 heart by plowing in, during tillage, a sufficient 

 quantity of the right kind of food for plants, to 

 support whatever crops may be anticipated, till 

 the proper time arrives for again disturbing the 

 soil Compost your manure, says one ; nonsense, 

 says another, it's time and labor lost. Just as 

 though you can make manure of loam, muck, sand 

 and such trash ; there is your manure, and you 

 cannot make any more of it by adding a heap of 

 worthless stuff. One farmer says a good cellar is 

 an indispensable appendage to a barn for econo- 

 my in the preservation and manufacture of ma- 

 nure ! Fudge ! says another, barn cellars are 

 more outsets than income. Cut your fodder for 

 your cattle as well as for yourself, says the econ- 

 omic farmer; absurd, says the objector, to suppose 

 that cutting increases the nutritive properties of 

 hay ; there is a certain amount of nourishment in 

 a pound of hay, cut or uncut — therefore cutting is 

 labor lost. I might go on and write page after 

 page of such contradictory theories and practices 

 without exhausting their number, but it is need- 

 less, they will suggest themselves to every .far- 

 mer. 



Now what I wish to inquire is, whence comes 

 this confusion of ideas? this variance in men's ex- 

 perience ? Are there no settled principles in agri- 

 culture on which we can rely for guidance? Is 

 Buccess in its pursuit so much a matter o^ chance, 

 that we can establish nothing as certain in relation 

 to it? Such would be our conclusions certainly, 

 were we to give credit to all the opinions of farm- 

 ers in relation to their avocation. !Mere opinions 

 in relation to the practical part of other sciences, 

 are not permitted to occupy the doubtful position 

 of theories, generation after generation, but are 

 either soon exploded, or are reared into the digni- 

 ty 0? facts, and are then at least, adopted by those 

 whose interests are involved, but its not so. As 

 a general thing with farmers, one man attempts 

 to verify the theory of deep plowing, and with no 

 regard to circumstances or conditions, he tOrns up 

 the subsoil of an already starving, exhausted top 

 soil, manures with his accustomed sparing hand, 

 and then discards deep plowing because he gets 

 ' poorly paid for his ill devised experiment. Another 

 man tries tlie advantage of compost manure, he 

 applies it sparingly to a lean soil, plowed with a 



skinning hand to a depth of three or four inches ; 

 a drought ensues and he obtains an indifferent 

 crop, and forthwith concludes there is but little 

 virtue in compost manure. Again, another farm- 

 er at considerable expense provides a cellar to his 

 barn, but neglects to supply it with loam, muck, or 

 sand to soak up the liquids, and absorb and fix the 

 ammonia of the manure ; hauls the fermenting 

 heap out in February or March, dumps it in small 

 heaps upon his field, where the searching winds, 

 scorching suns and drenching rains of spring ex- 

 tract the largest portion of its fertilizing proper- 

 ties, and then concludes that barn cellars are more 

 cost than profit. Once again, and the plodder on 

 attempts to verify the profit of chopped fodder for 

 his cattle — but he commences without the requi- 

 site knowledge of how much unchopped fodder is 

 necessary to satisfy the demands of his stock at 

 certain seasons and temperatures, tries the thing 

 for a few days ; finds some ivork in it — which to 

 avoid, he concludes there is no gain, but a loss in 

 time and labor, and straitway gives it up as a new 

 fangled notion of amateur formers. In this blind 

 and indolent manner do hundreds of farmers lose 

 the advantage of many modern improvements in 

 agriculture. I say blind, because circumstances 

 and conditions are not sufficiently taken cognizance 

 of; and I say indolent, because '■'■nothing that is 

 truly valuable can be obtained without labor and 

 pains. ^' 



Chemists could never have developed many val- 

 uable resources of nature had they not applied the 

 closest scrutiny and most untiring perseverance in 

 watching and testing the nice conditions and ad- 

 aptation of circumstances which nature requires 

 for her wondrous operations. A like patient ener- 

 gy is demanded at the hands of the farmer — en- 

 ergy of mind to think — and think profoundly, as 

 well as of the will to do. To render his experi- 

 ence of value, he must analyze facts, compare re- 

 sults, and note, if possible, the conditions neces- 

 sary to success in every experiment. Nothing 

 would aid the farmer in these pursuits, in my hum- 

 ble judgment, more than the formation of Social 

 Clubs or Agricultural Lyceums. They would afford 

 an opportunity to every former in a town, to make 

 a profitable exchange of his experience for that of 

 others. Nor is the advantage of such social gath- 

 erings confined to the acquisition of knowledge to 

 aid merely in material gain. They serve to dis- 

 seminate an interest in all matters calculated to ad- 

 vance the moral and intellectual well-being of a 

 community. They serve to awaken and nourish 

 those kind and generous feelings which render life 

 agreeable and lightens toil of more than half its 

 burdens. County Agricultural Societies are un- 

 questionably doing good service, but their influence 

 is not of that direct character, that is needed for 

 practical advancement amongst the whole body of 

 farmers. They serve to exhibit the results oi suc- 

 cessful effort, rather than point out the errors in 

 unsuccessful experiments. Active Town Societies 

 are needed not only for their direct and immediate 

 influence On the agriculture of the town, but for 

 the important aid they would afford to the useful- 

 ness of the County Associations, by awakening an 

 increased interest in every department of husband- 

 ry ; and thereby greatly augmenting the number 

 of competitors for premium productions. There 

 are many Town Societies already, but it is feared 

 they are too generally in a dormant state. It 



