EXPERIMENTAL FARMING. 33T 



ESSEX. 



INQUIRIES IN RELATION TO EXPERIMENTAL 

 FARMING. 



BY WILSOX FLAGG. 



Inquiries are frequently made with reference to the method 

 that should be pursued in conducting an experimental farm. 

 The subjects for experiment are so many and so various, that it 

 is difficult to understand the rules that should govern a com- 

 mittee in their selection of those which are worthy to be tried 

 on a farm of a limited number of acres. It may likewise be 

 objected, that as farmers are constantly engaged in experiment- 

 ing on their own lands, and with tlieir own stock, instigated and 

 directed by leading minds, that a farmer, -devoted to this purpose, 

 can do little but repeat the , experiments which have been pre- 

 viously made by private individuals. We must, however, bear 

 in mind, that when an individual carries on a series of experi- 

 ments, the results may never be made known to the public. 

 They may likewise be awkwardly conducted, and imperfectly 

 communicated, so that between the want of scientific method in 

 conducting them, and of clearness and precision in reporting 

 them, the real facts are never ascertained. It may be added, 

 that the experiments of an individual, acting in a private 

 capacity, seldom obtain that degree of notoriety which would 

 attend those of an association, and hence the former, however 

 well presented, seldom reach the minds of persons beyond the 

 immediate neighborhood in which they are conducted. 



Let the same experiments be made by an association, and 

 they immediately obtain notoriety. When published they are 

 read by all who are interested in agriculture, and the facts are 

 spread abroad over the whole country. All experiments would 

 be concentrated upon this farm, which would otherwise be 

 scattered over the land in widely separated places ; they would 

 generally be conducted with more skill and method, and the 

 results would be presented to the public in an aggregate report, 

 which would enable them to be seen at one view. A visit to 

 the society's farm, when in full operation, and a perusal of its 



