8 HAMPSHIRE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Let us illustrate the importance of scientific knowledge to cultiva- 

 tion. A farmer in New Hampshire had heard of the value of peat 

 as a manure. He applied a large quantity fresh from its native bed 

 to his arable land, in expectation of an abundant harvest ; but to his 

 great disappointment the crop was an entire failure. Why ? It con- 

 tained, a large percentage of sulphate of iron (copperas) fatal to his 

 crops. To this, Chemistry would have applied Lime as an antidote, 

 and thus converted the sulphate of iron, into the sulphate of lime, a 

 deadly poison, into a substance, valuable to his soil and conducive to 

 its fertility. Again, a sea captain who understood Neptune's do- 

 minions rather better than those of Ceres, purchased a farm in Mas- 

 sachusetts. He determined henceforth to plough old ocean's wave no 

 more, but that he Avouid enjoy comfort and tranquility in the even- 

 ing of his life, in ploughing the soil. He had heard of the mistake 

 of the New Hampshire farmer, and resolving to avoid it, rushed to 

 the opposite extreme, and thought lime as a fertilizer must be valua- 

 ble. Having four hundred loads of excellent barn-yard manure, he 

 determined to make his debut in farming by turning it to the highest 

 practical account. He therefore purchased two hundred casks of 

 lime, and mixed it with the manure. At first, his expectations were 

 raised to the highest pitch. He beheld his manure heap smoking 

 like a coal-pit. Judge then of his disappointment when his scientific 

 neighbors informed him that he had ruined the whole. The lime 

 had disengaged the ammonia, and nearly destroyed the fertilizing 

 properties of the mass. The facts to which we have referred, may be 

 extreme cases, but many of similar character have fallen under our 

 observation, all teaching us the dependence of art on science, and the 

 connexion of these, is no where more intimate than in Agriculture. 



We hear much said of the superior advantage oi jirartice and jyrac- 

 tical knowledge. But we rejoice that the science of our day is emi- 

 nently '■'■practical.'' Here lies the great superiority of modern Chem- 

 istry, over ancient Alchemy. The former works for the farmer and 

 facilitates the various processes of the useful arts ; the latter occupied 

 itself in the vain attempt to discover a universal elixir, and the phi- 

 losopher's stone. Science will be to the farmer, what the safety lamp 

 is to the miner, enabling him to explore the otherwise hidden treas- 

 ures of mother earth, and to bring them up for the benefit of mankind ; 

 Aye, as the pole-star to the mariner, a sure guide to the haven of 

 hope. 



