16 LETTER-FILES OF S. W. JOHNSON 



and harmonious development of intellectual, physical and 

 moral powers than the study of nature. Do our great chem- 

 ists, geologists, etc., fall behind mathematicians and classical 

 scholars in mental acumen or profundity? They certainly 

 occupy a greater rank in view of the utility of their labors. 

 The natural sciences offer this decided advantage over every 

 other study to the young farmer, that they are of direct 

 application to the daily concerns of his life. Let him then 

 be more concerned to know the nomenclature of chemistry 

 than the Greek alphabet. Let him study Liebig before Virgil, 

 and Boussingault before Horace. Not that I would cast any 

 reproach on the study of the classics, but I would have edu- 

 cation adapted to the wants of the educated. Every farmer 

 should be thoroughly acquainted with chemistry, botany, 

 zoology, etc., as affecting the principles of his art. Not that 

 every farmer should be a chemist, — that would be impossible — 

 but many possessed of natural tact might render themselves 

 sufficiently expert in analysis to materially benefit their busi- 

 ness without interfering with it. The schools of practical 

 chemistry that are springing up in our midst should be well 

 supported by our farming community. 



The reason why so few young men of talent and intellectual 

 promise are found engaged in cultivating the soil is that 

 agricultural pursuits, as commonly practised and understood, 

 offer no gratification to the mind. The proper application of 

 science to husbandry will remove this evil, and so soon as 

 provisions are made for the education of farmers, equal to 

 those now furnished for physicians and lawyers, we shall 

 behold the intellectual as well as the physical energies of our 

 country devoted to the perfection of agricultural processes. 

 . . . "Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send 

 forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass." — Isaiah. 



Having spent the spring vacation at home, Mr. 

 Johnson wrote on his return to Flushing, on May 8, 

 1849: 



