ECONOMY OF A( .'KM CULTURE. 439 



Licbig would have attain. id unto it ore this. The chemist has 

 done something, it is true, by way of analysis, but irery little 

 by way of didactic teaching. Such knowledge as the farmer 

 needs and must have, in order to advance the art of agriculture 



and perfect its economy, can only be obtained by careful obser- 

 vation and experience in the great laboratory in which Nature 

 works, and works to some useful purpose — where her experi- 

 ments are synthetical rather than analytical — where she pro- 

 duces something, when supplied with the right elements, that 

 gladdens and enriches him who engages in partnership with 

 her. He who, by observation and experience, has learned how- 

 to raise the maximum number of bushels of wheat, or corn, or 

 any other grain, upon an acre, and can so employ his knowledge 

 as to produce the given result whenever he has the opportu- 

 nity, knows what is of infinitely greater value to the world, when 

 imparted, than to be able to analyze a kernel of wheat and tell 

 the staring crowd of what chemical elements it is composed. 

 As an aid, every intelligent man welcomes Chemistry ; but let no 

 one be misled by her claims as set forth by some theoretical 

 pretender who is ignorant of the very first rudiments of good 

 farming. Nature abounds in mysteries which no science can 

 ever fathom ; yet forget not that science will aid you in exper- 

 imenting in the art of plant culture. What the fanner needs 

 to know beyond a wherefore is, how to furnish manures con- 

 taining just those elements which the seeds, planted or sown, 

 after germination, shall need to nourish and supply them until 

 matured and ready for the harvest. This knowledge can be 

 gained by experiment. So, again, when the crop is harvested, 

 how he shall feed it, if to be given to brute animals, so as to 

 derive the greatest possible profit from such an expenditure; 

 for both the plants and animals thrive best when supplied with 

 such nutrition as is best adapted to their own peculiar want-. 

 Nature, both in animals and plants, discovers wonderful powers 

 of adaptation to circumstances. A plant grown in pursuit of 

 proper nutrition under difficulties will he but a poor Bpecimen 

 from Nature's workshop. Hence it is reasonable to infer that 

 all medium crops, as well as those below this standard, are 

 specimens of this kind of production. The proposition, then, 

 that medium farming does not pay, will need no argument to 



