432 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



No specific science has done more to reveal the hidden mys- 

 teries of both the organic and inorganic kingdoms than that of 

 chemistry. But chemistry, even with all its power of analysis, 

 fails to gain access to the penetralia of Nature's hidden mys- 

 teries, concealed where neither the eye nor human reason can 

 ever penetrate, how eager soever they may be in their toils and 

 analyses. 



The " economy of agriculture," if duly studied, will guide a 

 man in the investment of money or credit ; in the purchase of 

 land which it is proposed to work; in the locating and con- 

 structing of the buildings thereon, or, if they are already erected, 

 in rendering them convenient and suitable in every respect 

 to compass the end for which they were built ; in fencing ; in 

 stocking, if a grazing farm, whether with sheep or some other 

 animals ; if cows, in selecting with reference both to the quan- 

 tity and quality of milk produced. So of sheep, with reference 

 to the fleece ; if a grain farm, in the selection of all the farm 

 implements ; teams for work, whether horses or oxen ; grain 

 to be used for seed ; the right time to plough, the depth, the 

 number of times; what manures or other stimulants shall be 

 employed, how much, when, and how ; when to sow ; how to 

 cultivate, and shield, and preserve from the destructive ravages 

 of insects ; when to harvest, as well as how ; when to market, 

 as well as where, by whom, and to whom. So also with regard 

 to the products of the dairy, if a dairy farm ; or the fruit, if 

 raised in abundance. And so of every thing, whether bought or 

 sold. Be able to nick the time, and never have occasion to say, 

 Had this, that, or the other thing been known, a better crop 

 might have been produced, or a better breed of cattle pur- 

 chased for stock raising, or a better method of fattening ani- 

 mals employed, or, when fattened, a better time for selling 

 for the shambles selected. These arc a few of the numerous 

 topics of which the " economy of agriculture " should take 

 cognizance. 



By it a man should determine whether, in the selection of a 

 farm, it will be better for him to purchase a grain farm or a 

 grass farm. If, in the light of economy, he shall determine on 

 a grazing farm, some of the inquiries which immediately pre- 

 sent themselves are, how to produce the greatest and best 



