15 



mind by the study of first principles and is not hampered 

 by his experience. Practice not directed by science can 

 do something, but it works at great disadvantage ; for 

 general principles impart the inclination as well as 

 quicken the capacity for improvement, make its progress 

 more rapid and prevent the adoption of error. 



It is a truth recognized in every department of indus- 

 try that intelligent labor is always the most successful 

 labor. The agent of a cotton mill speaking of the money 

 value of mere reading and writing says, " the best mill 

 in New England worked by operatives who are unable 

 to write their names, would never yield the proprietor a 

 profit." If knowledge is so desirable in manufacturing, 

 in which guidance of nicely arranged machinery is a 

 chief employment, how essential is it to men, who are 

 perpetually in contact with natural forces, now more, now 

 less active, — men who are required to decide questions 

 of the rotation of crops, of the application of manures 

 to various soils, — to make accurate and long-continued 

 experiments in feeding and fattening cattle 1 Manufac- 

 turers employ the best scientific knowledge and skill in 

 the production of a yard of calico. Is it less important 

 that a farmer should know the cost of a gallon of milk or 

 a bushel of grain, or a pound of beef ? Manufacturers 

 and mechanics work on dead materials, and their labors 

 are consequently less liable to be affected by causes be- 

 yond their control than those of the farmer. He deals 

 with living growths, that are modified by light, heat, 

 moisture, electricity and chemical afiinities, — and hence 

 he needs knowledge both to facilitate his operations and 

 to multiply indefinitely the productions of the soil ; — in 

 other words, to grow the largest crop with the least ex- 

 pense, at the same time improving the condition of his 

 land. The manufacturer would soon be ruined, who 

 should persist in using machinery and employing meth- 



