37 



amples will sufficiently indicate both the kind of connec- 

 tion which exists between practical agriculture and prac- 

 tical chemistry ; and the kind of uses to which such 

 scientific knowledge may hereafter be put, in advancing 

 the important art, which it is the first wish of this great 

 Society, and the individual interest of many of its mem- 

 bers most zealously to promote. 



Limits of Human Skill. — But in dwelling upon and 

 illustrating what is already in the power of man, and what 

 he hopes to attain in reference to agriculture through the 

 aids of science, I would not forget to acknowledge how 

 very limited his knowledge is, and how feeble his capacites 

 after all. 



A mysterious fungus attacks the potato, and for years 

 spreads famine and misery, and discontent and depression, 

 among millions of industrious farmers. 



A minute fly, season after season, hovers over our wheat 

 fields, and from entire provinces and states almost banishes 

 the cultivation of our most important grain. 



A long continued drought, such as half a century past 

 has scarcely seen, dries up our meadows and pastures, and 

 drives the farmer to his wits end, to obtain winter sustenance 

 for his necessary stock. 



Such things as these ought to prevent us from boasting 

 of our knowledge, and to enforce upon us that piety and 

 humbleness of spirit, which rural occupations themselves 

 so naturally foster — while at the same time they should 

 not restrain us from any effort or enquiry by which the 

 evils themselves may be mitigated or removed. 



It is possible — nay, it is almost within the bounds of a 

 reasonable expectation — that the same intellectual research 

 which has given us dominion over the proud waves — has 

 made out the laws by which hurricanes are regulated — has 



