IG MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



is true, that one-half of the weight of the rocks which compose 

 the crust of the globe, of every solid substance, of the houses, 

 of the stones of the pavement, of the soils we cultivate, and 

 much more than half by weight of all living animals and plants, 

 consists of oxygen. Nature is as subtle as she is strong. Her 

 processes of decomposition and reconstruction might be followed 

 out in higher grades of existence, rank into rank, to sentient 

 beings. They burn with internal fire which wastes while it 

 works. The great agencies work in man as in all. 



There is no porter like gravitation, who will bring down any 

 weight which you cannot carry, and if he wants aid, he knows 

 where to find his fellow-laborers. Water works in masses, 

 and sets his irresistible shoulder to your mills and your shops, 

 or transports vast boulders of rock a thousand miles. But its 

 far greater power lies in its capacity to enter the smallest holes 

 and pores. By its agency the vegetable world exists, carrying 

 in solution the elements needful to every plant. Water, that 

 daily miracle — a substance as explosive as gunpowder — the 

 electric force contained in a drop of water being equal in 

 amount to that which is discharged from a thunder-cloud. I 

 quote from the exact Faraday. 



While the farmer has these grand fellow-laborers to assist 

 him, and these majestic tools to work with, it must be owned 

 that he is not quite competent to their direction. His servants 

 are sometimes too strong for him. His tools are too sharp. 

 But this inequality finds its remedy in practice. Experience 

 gradually teaches him, and he is thoughtful. The farmer hates 

 innovation ; he hates the hoe till he tries it, preferring to 

 scratch with a stick ; he will walk till he has tried the railway 

 car ; but the oldest fogy among us, now that the Atlantic Cable 

 is laid to London, will not send a man to swim across with his 

 letter in his mouth. While such great energies are working 

 for the farmer, he is also taught the great power that is in 

 small things. It is very little that is required. 'Tis wonderful 

 the force of a few simple arrangements. Look at the powers 

 of a chestnut rail. Then see that prairie, hundreds of miles 

 off, not a stick or a stone upon it, except at rare intervals. 

 Well, the farmer manages to put up a rail fence, and at once 

 seeds sprout and crops rise. It was only the browse and fire 

 that kept them down. Plant a fruit tree by the roadside and 



