570 SELECTIONS FROM ADDRESSES. 



again to practical farmers, for they had failed him, but to a 

 chemist, whose vocation was not in the field, and about the 

 soil, but in the laboratory, and the chemist visited the place, 

 took portions of the soil and analyzed them. He found a 

 plenty of magnesia, of lime, of potash, iron and organic mat- 

 ter. Yet one thing it lacked. One element of a fertile soil 

 was wanting, — and that one absent, all the rest were noth- 

 ing worth, — even as gunpowder without the kindling spark. 

 There was no trace of phosphoric acid. He directed that the 

 biphosphate of lime should be applied, and this having been 

 thoroughly done, the farm in fervent and substantial gratitude 

 for this application of the proper food to its starved and 

 exhausted frame, poured out its rich wheat at the figure of 

 twenty-nine bushels to the acre. Now this curer of a bad 

 and almost hopeless soil, as it seemed to the common observer, 

 was a book-farmer, nay, rather a book-worm, who had never 

 been at the plough tail, never handled a rake nor swung a flail. 

 What would you have done, Mr. Anti-book-farmer, but poked 

 your way towards the cure in the dark, trying experiment after 

 experiment, — perhaps hitting the nail on the head, or perhaps 

 hitting and bruising your own fingers, — that is, wasting your 

 time, your money and your labor to no pvirpose ; — supposing 

 you to work for the remedy on the terms of " no cure, no pay," 

 — and despairing of all success, have recommended to the 

 honorable gentleman, if he had no other means of living than 

 the yield of this hopeless farm, to sell it for the most he could 

 get, pack up his traps, and push for the West or for Cali- 

 fornia. 



I am aware that there are very many most excellent farmers, 

 possessing great practical skill in their vocation, and so pro- 

 ducing most excellent results in their culture of their farms. 

 And were you to take issue with me, and to ask the question, 

 whether there have not been more successful farmers, without 

 education specially as such, — than there have been successful 

 farmers with education, it might be difficult for me to sustain 

 my argument by proving the latter to have been the case, 

 though perhaps a good point might be made by showing that 

 one cause for its not having prevailed is, that it is of compara- 

 tively recent date, that the subject of the education of the 

 farmer with distinct reference to his calling, has been specially 



