187 

 CHAPTER XVI. 



OF CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. 

 SECTION I. THE TRUE NATURE OF CHEMICAL ANALYSIS 



Among all of the subjects that have been presented 

 to the consideration of farmers, since the work of agri- 

 cultural improvement commenced, none has been less 

 understood, even by many of those who have pre- 

 tended to be its expounders, than that of analytical 

 chemistry as applied to agriculture. 



Many authors and speakers have labored to esta- 

 blish it as a fact, that there is no difficulty in chemical 

 investigations, beyond what may be overcome by 

 a few days of study : thus a large portion of the 

 farming community have been led into the belief that 

 when proper institutions are established, they them- 

 selves, or at least their children, may in a few weeks 

 time do all of their own analytical work; just as they 

 do their own ploughing, and as well as the most ac- 

 complished chemist could do it. 



That such ideas as these are totally at variance with 

 the truth, none w T ho have ever studied the subject 

 thoroughly can for a moment doubt. It is a perfectly 

 safe conclusion when any man asserts, for instance, 

 the entire simplicity and ease of analysing a soil, that 

 his analyses would not be of a very accurate descrip- 

 lion. 



Chemistry is a science that must be studied earnest- 

 ly and perseveringly, just like any other branch of 

 knowledge which has a wide range. In order to know 

 what is in a soil, and to determine what are the quan- 

 tities of its constituents, an intimate acquaintance is 



