ROOTS AND VEGETABLES. 105 



be not deceived by those who may tell you that a thin, dry, 

 hungry soil "will do about as well as any" provided you will 

 cultivate and manure it. You may as well expect fertile ideas 

 from a shallow brain by being educated with Latin and Greek ; 

 but be satisfied with nothing short of a iveU-drained^ friable soil. 



It is plain that agriculture has not kept pace in improve- 

 ments with other pursuits, and doubtless from the fact that our 

 young men, for the last quarter of a century, have been 

 nurtured and taught in the principle that tilling the soil is low 

 and degrading, instead of being healthy and honorable and 

 independent ; but as agriculture loses the services of our 

 young men, and as our fields become deserted for other em- 

 ployments, it is in effect striking out of existence the spring 

 season or having it forget to blossom. But what is wanted of 

 our young men, is that they should accumulate facts that shall 

 enlarge the mind and increase the understanding, by bringing 

 into operation those hidden elements of mental perception and 

 concentration; furthermore, it is not enough, that we simply 

 collect facts and lay down rules, — that we arrive at just 

 conclusions, — unless our observations are of the right kind and 

 made in the right way. If they are not exact and accurate, 

 and conducted and reported so as to admit of proper arrange- 

 ment and comparison, thc}^ are of little value, and may lead 

 to false and mistaken views. 



As an illustration, Farmer Jones, who has gained a knowl- 

 edge, by careful study and observation, of the composition of 

 soils in his fields, and hy knowing what elements are wanting 

 for particular crops, — having also acquired a knowledge to 

 some extent of fertilizers, and those best adapted to the soil 

 and the intended crop, — reports to the Farmers' Club, or to 

 the Agricultural Society of which he is a member, a complete 

 success. Upon the receipt of this report. Farmer Smith, or 

 somebody else, with a view of carrying ofl' the palm by obtain- 

 ing a higher premium, "starts off" with having a very limited 

 knowledge of the elements in the soil, and still less of special 

 manures, — perhaps uses two or three times the quantity used 

 by his neighbor, and applies it in a different way, contrary 

 to all theory or common-sense, — and instead of the experiment 

 being like that of his neighbor, a success, the operation is a 

 complete failure. 



14* 



