32 



the operator tJtating the reasons for his method, and explammg- 

 so far as he eould, the wonderful and delicate structure of the 

 horse's foot. AVould it not awaken a new interest in this im- 

 portant art? 



What animal is tliere, more important to civilized man 

 than the horse I ^Vnd how many horses arc injured, often, 

 [)ermanently, by improper shoeing ! Xow I don't pretend to 

 ]cno\v anything 2)ractically, about shoeing a horse, ajid what is 

 more, I don't believe that one blacksmith in a hundred, thor- 

 oughly imderstands liis business ; l)ut there are those that do^ 

 and it is such men that I sliould like to see at Avork in the 

 presence of just such an intelligent crowd as we saw at yonder 

 Ploughing match. It ^vould do good, set people to thinking, 

 about, and studying, the structure of tlie liorse's foot, and lead 

 to better work hereafter. 



^Vnd tlicn wliat a grand work lies open to the societies in 

 instituting and encouraging more accurate, more minute and 

 careful experiments. We liave more or less experiments tried 

 HOW, but few of them are wliat they ought to be, liecause they 

 are wanting in some of the elements of accuracy, or attention 

 to details which constitute their whole value. Experiments 

 properly made and accurately and honestly rc{)orted, are tho- 

 chief means of adding to our present stock of knowledge in 

 agriculture. They cost money and time, and hence the im- 

 portance of aiding them l>y all the influence of a ])owerful 

 society. 



Many of you have heard of the admirable and extensivo- 

 experiments of Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert in England. They 

 constitute perhaps, the most important contribution which 

 science has made to practical agriculture during the whole' 

 course of the nineteenth century. I have been so much in- 

 terested in them that I took great pains at the time of my last: 

 visit to England, to visit Rothamstead to examine their Labo- 

 ratory, their experimental fields, and their collections. Mr^,. 

 Lawes, a man of large means, and of a large and liberal heart,. 



I 



