1862, 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



395 



HOW TO ENTER UPON SCIENTIFIC 

 PURSUITS. 



The great treasure-house of nature is open to all, and the only 

 fee demanded for inspection, is attention. 



Sir J. Herschcl said : "In entering upon any 

 scientific pursuit, one of the sttulent's first endeav- 

 ors ought to be to prepare his mind for tlie recep- 

 tion of truth, by dismissing, or loosening his hold 

 on all such crude notions as tend to mislead him." 

 Tlie advice is most excellent as far as it goes, and 

 we purpose rendering it more' complete, by show- 

 ing how it can be followed. 



Observation of nature is the only source of 

 truth. Discursive observation is the art of notic- 

 ing circumstances evident to the senses. Men 

 who do this intentionally and carefully, with a 

 view of acquiring a knowledge of phenomena and 

 their causes, are distinguished for their varied 

 knowledge, and often for their great discoveries. 

 Shakspeare must have owed the varied facts in- 

 terwoven in his delineations of human character 

 to this source. The harnessing of the lightning 

 by Benjamin Franklin, was doubtless the sugges- 

 tion of his curious observations of things. Ful- 

 lon, Arkwright, Sir Walter Scott and Cowper are 

 well known to have been careful observers. New- 

 ton, Bacon, Hunter, Gall, and others, owe their 

 discoveries to their powers and habits of observa- 

 tion and experiment. Experiment is invented ob- 

 servation. It is putting into operation certain 

 supposed causes in order to observe their effects 

 — or it may be defined as an observation, which 

 we are at some trouble to make. It is the very 

 foundation of scientific pursuits. 



Science is reason. Art is rule. Science tells 

 wh)'. Art tells how. An art is a system of rules 

 for the performance of an operation ; and science 

 explains the reasons on which the rules of art are 

 founded. To be scientific, therefore, we must 

 have a clear perception of this definition. To 

 have imbibed the spirit of science, whose traits 

 are clear distinctions, accurate classification, and 

 a strict reference to primitive data, is to approach 

 the apex of the inventive pyramid. 



The student of science should have all his 

 knowledge systematized and arranged. What 

 other people have in confusion, he should have in 

 order. The elements of knowledge are, more or 

 less, known to all men — but in their perfect, com- 

 municable and usable state, they are known only 

 to the scientific man. What training is to the 

 soldier, science is to the thinker. It enables him 

 to control all his resources, and by classification, 

 show his powers to the best advantage. Astron- 

 omy, navigation, architecture, geometry, political 

 economy, morals, all rest, or should rest, and do 

 rest, if "they have attained to the ])crfection of sci- 

 ence, on primary facts and first principles. Every 

 step should be measured by an axiom — every step 

 traced to a first principle. To detect error, then, 

 in any province of investigation, the student first 

 looks to the primary principles on which it is 

 based, and thus tests the legitimacy of its conclu- 

 sions. 



Observation, definition, classification, are the 

 maxims of absolute necessity to every inventor ; 

 without them, no real progress can be made. 

 These principles may not always make their ap- 

 pearance in formal propositions, but still they 

 guide all our thoughts in the same manner as 

 when a musician plays a careless voluntary ujjon 



an instrument — he is guided by rules of music he 

 long since became familiar with, though scarcely 

 sensible of them now. 



The natural order undoubtedly indicates, first, 

 search for the original principle of things — then 

 definition of terms — then systematizing or classi- 

 fication, and lastly, application. This habit aids 

 not only the acquisition of knowledge, but also its 

 retention. Around these princi]jles, as around a 

 standard, the thoughts naturally associate. Touch 

 but a remote chord of any question, and it will 

 vibrate to the central principle to which it has 

 once been well attached. Every relative impres- 

 sion owns a kindred connection, and the moment 

 one is attacked, it, like a faithful sentinel, arouses 

 a whole troop, which, marshalled and disciplined, 

 bear down and challenge the enemy. 



What a poet once sung of the associations of 

 childhood, is true of the associations of scientific 

 investigation : 



"Childhood's loved group revisits every scene, — 



The tangled wood- walk and the tufted green. 



The school's long porch, with reverend mosses gray, 



Just tells the pensive pilgrim where it lay. 



Mute is the hell which ran;^ at peep of dawn, 



QuicU'nin.'? my truant steps across the lawn ; 



Unheard the shout that rent the noontide air, 



When the slow dial gave a pause to care. 



Up springs at every step, to claim a tear. 



Some little friendsliip formed and cherished here ; 



And not the lightest leaf but trembling teems 



Vt'ith golden visions and romantic dreams !" 



— Farmer, Mechanic and Cabinet. 



HOT-BEDS— HOT-HOUSES— WEEDS- 

 MANURES. 



Will you please answer the following questions 

 through the columns of the Farmer, and oblige a 

 constant reader ? 



1. What size glass and sash are best and most 

 convenient for a hot-bed ? What for a small hot- 

 house, in which to start and protect early and 

 tender plants, and how should it be built ? 



2. How can manure be managed so as to kill 

 the seeds in it, and to escape the trouble of con- 

 stantly hoeing and pulling weeds, especially 

 among onions and root crops ? 



3. How are the early onions and peas raised, 

 and what variety are they, that are brought early 

 into Boston market, and sent to other places ? 

 Are the onions raised from the seeds ? The peas 

 in this market, now brought from Boston, are 

 larger than the very early kinds raised here, such 

 as the Dan. OTtourke, &c. 



Waterville, Me., 18G2. B. T. Stevens. 



Remarks. — A hot-bed, merely to answer the 

 purposes of a common flimily, may be constructed 

 of tM'o old house windows and a few pieces of ua- 

 planed boards, and the plants will be just as 

 thrifty as under one that cost, $20. But if you 

 wish to engage to a more ample extent in pro- 

 ducing early plants, it would he better to con- 

 struct a hot-bed of considerable size, and of good 

 materials, — and even then, the process of con- 

 structing the frame and sash is exceedingly sim- 

 ple. It consists in nailing four boards together, 

 the width being about four feet, or just wide 

 enough to reach across, to tend the plants, and 

 the length extended as far as is desired. The 



