No. 216 ] 529 



ened and successful cultivation of the earth is, and must be, founded 

 on the use of known facts, and it consists in the production of results, 

 in the operation of natural laws, guided and modified by the condi- 

 tion under which they take effect. These conditions it is the prov- 

 ince ot the farmer to supervise and direct, and consequently the 

 results produced are under his control. How obvious it is then, that 

 to succeed, he must use the proper means to attain the desired results, 

 and that if he fail in the former he must fail also in the latter. In 

 determining the best means of producing the desired results in agri- 

 culture, they are first pointed out or suggested by science, and then 

 proved by experiment; after which, when suflSciently known and 

 authenticated, they become reduced to general praciice. 



The main question then is, how shall such discoveries be made, 

 experiments carried on, nnd principles settled? How shall the 

 learning, vigilant attention, hard labor, and many fixtures and pre- 

 parations, requisite for conducting the long and nice experiments of 

 testing the principles of science in practical agriculture, be suffici- 

 ently brought together in joint and continued operation? 



The answer to this is, by the establishment of an experimental or 

 model farm, under the direction of proper persons, and to be kept 

 as the agricultural laboratory of the nation, to settle and circulate 

 facts, principles and rules, commanding general confidence and guid- 

 ing the farmer throughout the country. Who cannot see the impor- 

 tance of the use of accurate rules in agriculture? Who cannot see 

 the nice and critical part which farmers perform in their daily labor? 

 Nature is governed by the most exact rules and rigid laws, in the 

 part she performs in the production of vegetation. Why, then, should 

 not those who control the conditions of the exercise of her functions, 

 be equally governed by rules? And how obvious it is, that unless 

 they are so governed, instead of co-operating with, they must fre- 

 quently counteract natural laws, and expend their toil, only to reap 

 disappointment and vexation. 



The chemist and physician, in mixing ingredients, attend to quan- 

 tity and condition, and are governed by the most exact rules. Why, 

 then, should not the farmer do likewise, in the various and delicate 

 organic compounds which he seeks to produce? His processes equally 

 involve the principles of science under all their various modifications. 

 Air, earth and water are the rough materials from which, through 

 the agency of light and heat, are wrought all the varieties of the 

 vegetable kingdom. From these come all the varied shades and 



[Am. Inst.] U 



