250 J. E. TESCHEMACHER'S REMARKS. 



manure composts, are very interesting, if every agriculturist 

 would make such notes, and place them where men of science 

 could have access to them, they would soon be classified, sifted 

 out, and compared ; this would unquestionably lead to gen- 

 eralizations of some importance to agriculture. 



A desire, in which everyone must cordially join, has been ex- 

 pressed for definite experiments in agriculture. In order to have 

 definite experiments, however, it is necessary to work with defi- 

 nite compounds, and this, with the immense diversity of soils, 

 although not absolutely impossible, is difficult. A farmer may. 

 year after year, add seaweed to his manure composts, and al- 

 ways produce excellent crops ; if, to spare labor or expense for 

 one year, he omits this ingredient, he may still have as good 

 crops, nay, even a second year ; then, from this, which he con- 

 siders a definite experiment, he will conclude seaweed to be of 

 no use. The third year, another may be in possession of the 

 farm, and, having heard of seaweed, determines to try it on half 

 the land, the other half without. From that half manured with 

 seaweed he obtains much better crops than from the other, and 

 he concludes, from this definite experiment, that seaweed is a 

 valuable manure. No v, the probable truth would be, that, from 

 the seaweed put on, there had been a superabundance of phos- 

 phates and other inorganic salts, enough to supply the crops, for 

 the two years, and that then a fresh addition of them was re- 

 quired. No doubt this case often occurs in the application of 

 lime and plaster, and has caused so much diversity of opinion. 



But definite experiments, though difficult, are not absolutely 

 impossible ; for instance, that stated by the president, at San- 

 dusky, Ohio, where, on a breadth of twenty or thirty acres, fifty 

 bushels charcoal were spread per acre, on land hitherto barren, 

 with intervening spaces, where none was used. The spots with 

 charcoal gave from twenty to twenty-five bushels wheat per 

 acre, those without, from three to five bushels per acre. 



There is, however, one definite experiment of t'ne utmost im- 

 portance, to be tried ; it is the experiment of establishing agri- 

 cultural schools, and experimental farms throughout this vast 

 and flourishing agricultural country. What is the rejison why 

 youth pant after commerce or the learned professions'? It is 



