HOMCEOPATHY IN AGRICULTURE. 191 



If man will but do his part, he shall find nature no exact- 

 ing creditor, demanding her pound of flesh, threatening to 

 remand the earth back to the reign of death and desolation 

 if her bond is not satisfied, but a generous friend and part- 

 ner, ever active and vigilant, honoring all his drafts, while 

 constantly increasing the deposits of plant-food throughout 

 her ample domain. So shall the earth continue to the latest 

 generations to bud, blossom and bear fruit in all the beauty, 

 fragrance, luxuriance and bounty of the fabled garden of 

 Eden, fit haunt of gods, where with our first pair the angels 

 walked in converse sweet beneath the clustered vines and 

 trees of choicest fruit. 



No discussion followed this paper, but Mr. W. H. 

 Bowker of Boston was introduced and delivered the follow- 

 ing lecture : — 



HOMCEOPATHY IN AGRICULTURE. 



BY W. H. BOWKER OF BOSTOX. 



It may be inferred from the title of this paper that it is 

 proposed to discuss the application of homoeopathy to agri- 

 cultural operations, or its adoption by the agricultural 

 classes ; but such is not the case. I use the term " homoe- 

 opathy " not in its medical sense, namely, that " like cures 

 like," but in the popular sense of representing infinitesimal 

 quantities ; and this paper, therefore, will discuss the infini- 

 tesimal and indispensable quantity in agriculture. 



There are many quantities essential to successful farming. 

 After the brains and capital are supplied, I take it that the 

 most important quantity is that of plant food, and it is with 

 the latter that I propose to deal. 



In medicine, especially in the homoeopathic school, it is 

 claimed by its founder, Hahnemann, for example, that the 

 one-millionth part of a -drop of medicine of a certain known 

 strength, frequently administered, is suflicient to effect 

 cures in obstinate and virulent diseases. The truth or 

 falsity of this assumption it is unnecessary to consider here. 

 Certain it is that science has deinonstrated and practice 

 shown that medicine can be so compounded and afterwards 

 so minutely subdivided, retaining its efficacy all the while, 



