CONSERVATISM IN SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE. 45 



duty to illumine a benighted agriculture at the same time that he 

 rescues an erring soul. 



There is a great opportunity, though perliaps not yet a great 

 demand, for men especially trained to be editors of agricultural 

 newspapers. These should be men who possess the fundamentals 

 of science and practice, and while they may not be experts in any 

 one direction, they should be so well acquainted with the sources 

 of knowledge and with the status of men and things that they 

 can sift the chaff from the wheat. 



This is not a plea for ati aristocracy of knowledge based upon 

 an orthodox training in school or out of school, or upon a re- 

 quired assent to the recognized credo of science or practice. It 

 is not to be expected that even men of acknowledged authority 

 shall all bring their views to the same dead level, but it would 

 be a relief if we could eliminate from public discussion those 

 speakers and writers whose chief claim to a hearing is that they 

 disagree with the accepted verdicts of science and practice, not 

 because they have had the opportunity exhaustively to examine 

 the foundations upon which these conclusions rest, but rather 

 because, after a superficial observation of the surface of things, 

 they are not able to reach the same conclusions. The theories 

 which these pseudo-scientists weave out of the tissues of their 

 own brains, though generally short-lived, may not only mislead, 

 but do great harm by destroying confidence in the science that is 

 worthy of the name. 



It may appear somewhat superfluous to suggest that there is 

 need for conservatism on the part of the farmer, for he has been 

 repeatedly pointed out as an example of excessive caution in the 

 adoption of new ideas. Certainly he has sometimes assumed an 

 attitude of even extreme reserve towards things scientific, and 

 although the best farm practice furnishes abundant evidence that 

 the discoveries of science have taken a firm hold upon the means 

 and methods of agriculture, yet he is disposed carefully to ques- 

 tion any new theories or change of practice that is presented to 

 his attention. Such conservatism is wise. The farmer is receiv- 

 ing a great deal of free advice from a variety of sources, which, 

 as we have tried to show, is not always reliable, and until by 

 inexpensive experiments, or by less expensive observation, he 

 secures reasonable proof of the value of a new method or appli- 

 ance, he does well to adliere to liis old and tried, wavs. 



