HOW SCIENCE IS HELPING THE FARMER. 101 



Never before in history have scientific workers been so prac- 

 tical as now. We live in essentially a practical age, and men 

 live better, more intelligently, and more easily than ever before. 

 Practical problems engage the attention of the scientist over all 

 others ; and so, instead of ridicule, science as applied to the farm 

 is now receiving most respectful consideration, for the work is 

 practical, and sound practice always receives respectful attention. 



Science is knowledge. There is no scientific farming. The 

 highest type of farming is intelligent farming. The intelligent 

 farmer of to-day is simply making use of certain scientific facts 

 that have a practical application. 



For a half century science has been laboring in the interests 

 of agriculture. This year the United States appropriates nearly 

 one million dollars for scientific experimentation as applied to 

 agriculture. And yet but few farmers realize how material is the 

 assistance being given the agricultural classes of the country 

 through the direct application of accomplished scientific work. 

 In view of this condition of affairs, in the following pages I pro- 

 pose to give illustrations of what is now in practical use, show- 

 ing how science has helped and is helping the farmer. These 

 examples signify something. They mean a saving of millions of 

 dollars to the people of the country. Millions have been saved to 

 the farmers in the past ; millions will be saved in the future ; 

 and all through the aid of scientific research. 



The first real substantial assistance received by the farming 

 public from science was in the examination and inspection of 

 commercial fertilizers. Liebig demonstrated that plants secured 

 most of their nutrition from soil ingredients. Nitrogen, potash, 

 and phosphoric acid were those most in demand by the plant, and 

 where crops were removed from the soil these articles of plant 

 food were diminished, thereby reducing cropping capacity. Soil 

 exhaustion in a measure followed if these substances were not 

 returned to feed subsequent crops. Natural manures (animal 

 excrement) contained nitrogen, potash, and phosphoric acid ; con- 

 sequently soil fertility could be maintained by the application of 

 these. But chemistry here came to the farmer's aid, by suggest- 

 ing that the various essentials of plant food be supplied in arti- 

 ficially prepared form. Nitrogen could be obtained from Peruvian 

 guano and animal matter, potash from wood ashes or German 

 salts, and phosphoric acid from bones ; consequently these sub- 

 stances could be supplied as desired. With the propagation of 

 this idea was developed the commercial fertilizer, and artificial 

 manures were made and sold on the market as is any other com- 

 modity. However, it was not long before much fraudulent ma- 

 terial found its way into the buyer's hands ; many dealers were 

 not honest, and farmers were often outrageously swindled. Here, 



