12 AMERICAN MANURES. 



The bulk of the agricultural literature of the 

 day has two vital defects, calculated to defeat 

 tho end for which it is intended. The direct 

 cause of this failure may be traced to the 

 writers themselves, who may be classified as 

 follows : 



First. The purely professional, scientific man, 

 who, unfortunately, cannot divest his writings 

 of the symbols and technical characters and 

 terms of science ; as he has a reputation to sustain 

 or acquire among the savans of the world, and 

 the scientific men of the country. Their works 

 may be ever so progressive, and show great 

 originality and merit, with an amount of labor 

 and patient research deserving of the highest 

 commendation. Still they signally fail in the 

 object intended that of giving plain, practical 

 information to our farmers as the most of 

 them, on account of their technical character, 

 present as much difficulty to the uninstructed 

 mind of the general farmer as if they w r ere 

 written in Greek characters. 



It is not our purpose to condemn works of this 

 class ; they are needed as text books in out 

 educational institutions, and as books of reference 

 for the scientific portion of the community. And 

 as standard works in science, they could not 

 be well given in any other form ; and the farmer, 

 had he the leisure, and the inclination, to give 



