6 



sickly existence ? There have been hiws and 

 customs in most of the countries of the ohl world, 

 affecting the acquisition, distribution, and nuni- 

 ageme!it of hmded property, that have done much* 

 and unhappily in some cases yet continue, to 

 impede the progress of a national agriculture; 

 causes from which we, of the new world, are in 

 great measure, or altogether, free. But the rpies- 

 tion naturally occurs, whether, under favorable 

 circumstances, there is anything in the nature 

 of agricultural pursuits, per se, that tends to ren- 

 der its improvement and progress comparatively 

 slow ? I think there is. 



In the first place, in countries of the temper- 

 ate zone, at least, it requires a whole year for the 

 farmer to make a single experiment, and, as the 

 art advances, much longer periods, ao rotations 

 of four, seven, or more years are involved, before 

 safe conclusions can be drawn from well estab- 

 lished data. If to this be added the differences 

 of soil, even on the same farti^, the variable char- 

 acter of the seasons, and the many substances 

 now emj^loyed as manures, it will be at once 

 apparent that agricultural experiments are, in 

 their very nature, highly complicated, and the 

 number that comes within the experience of the 

 busiest and longest life, must be necessarily 



