EXACT AND EXPERIMENTAL AGRICULTURE. 63 



should compare the value of his crops with the expenses of cul- 

 tivation ; and of each crop with its particular expense; that he 

 may determine how far he is a gainer or a loser by his opera- 

 tions ; and in what respects one crop may have the advantage 

 over another ; that he may determine which will best repay his 

 care and labor. But he can never do this, and he is liable to 

 the grossest mistakes, both in judgment and practice, without 

 exact observation and measurement. 



Exactness is important in the next place to the proper dispo- 

 sal of his crops. How can a farmer well calculate what he 

 shall do with his crops, unless he first ascertains what he has ? 

 If he overrates them, he is liable to overstock his farm, and 

 either be compelled to pinch his cattle, by which in the end he 

 is sure to lose, or to purchase fodder, which few men can afford 

 to do ; or if he underrates them, not keep stock enough, and 

 with the feeling of abundance be very likely to use his pro- 

 duce prodigally and wastefully, and so fail of the advantages 

 within his reach. Exactness is in the next place important to a 

 man's character and usefulness. Agricultural operations ap- 

 proach so nearly to what may be called a creative power, that 

 no class of people are more liable to have the organ of self- 

 esteem powerfully excited than the farmers. Few men there- 

 fore are more disposed to boast of what they have done, and 

 especially how much they have done. Some of their state- 

 ments are so extravagant that they are made at the expense of 

 all respect either for their judgment, or knowledge, or veracity. 

 The fact is, they do not mean to impose on others, but they 

 deceive themselves. It is all guess work with them. The 

 effects of such misstatements are often very bad ; and equally 

 pernicious whether the result of mistake or design. The inex- 

 perienced and confiding are led into gross miscalculations by 

 them. Now, a respectable man ought to have so much regard 

 to his own honor as that, when he makes a statement, he may 

 be sure it is founded in strict truth ; but of this he never can be 

 sure, unless he is in the habit of exact calculation and measure- 

 ment ; and no certain progress can be made in the science of 

 agriculture without this exactness. Agriculture must be consi- 



