theory, stated with so much confidence, and often arrogance, 

 appears very erroneous and even absurd, as the circle of our 

 experience expands. Fortunately for such a theorist, this seldom 

 takes place in his lifetime, but sometimes the decline of his life is 

 embittered by seeing the dreams of his enthusiasm vanishing and 

 exploded, and exposed to the ridicule and scorn of his contempo- 

 raries. We long to see the time when caution, modesty, a 

 generous regard for the opinions of others, and, above all, a love 

 of truth for its own sake, shall characterise the mind of natural 

 philosophers, and feel convinced that men whose spirit is so con- 

 stituted, will not only enjoy themselves a greater amount of happi- 

 ness and satisfaction, but that the cause in which they are 

 engaged will be decidedly a gainer, and advance more rapidly, and 

 prosper better than it now does. 



It must be regarded as a matter of deep regret, that the want 

 of caution and modesty on the part of many scientific men has 

 contributed more than perhaps anything else to bring science into 

 discredit with the agricultural public. Many a practical man, 

 not otherwise entertaining prejudices against science, has been 

 led thereby to undervalue the labours of his best friends, and to 

 regard science a term of which he often entertains very vague 

 ideas as antagonistic to practice. In my conversations with 

 farmers, it has often struck me how generally the words practice 

 with science, which several agricultural societies have accepted as 

 their motto, are misdunerstood. Mere theory and science are 

 synonymous terms, I fear, with most farmers ; and many, I am 

 convinced, regard science as the very antagonist principle to prac- 

 tice ; and if they adopt the motto Science with Practice, I think 

 it is only because, in their opinion, a little opposition that is, a 

 little science or theory keeps a good practice alive. Now nothing 

 can be more incorrect. True science and practice are never 

 opposed to each other. The source from which both are upheld is 

 observation. Well-regulated observation constitutes experience: 

 experience is the mother of sound practice, but it is also the 

 parent of sound science ; for science itself is nothing else than 

 the systematic arrangement or generalisation of a number of 

 isolated facts. Where, then, is the antagonistic principle between 

 science and practice 2 



The labours of Lampadius demand our special notice. With 

 much interest and zeal he took up the investigation into the causes 

 of the beneficial effects resulting from the application of burnt 

 clay, brick-dust, and burnt soil in general ; and during the years of 

 1829-36, he continued his experiments, which are full of instruc- 

 tion, with a perseverance which cannot be too highly commended. 

 The results of his experiments are recorded in a series of papers 

 which appeared in Erd mann's Journal fur Technische und (Econo- 

 mische Uhemie, during the years of 1826-36 ; and as they are valu- 

 able contributions to our agricultural literature, we will point out 



