250 S. W. Johnson on the Soil-analyses of the 
ashes of the plants. So too he found titanic acid in the produce 
grown on the most carefully purified soils. Now, it is mentioned 
in the ‘Chemical News” that he finds a few hundredths of lithium 
are indispensable to the ripening of barley. This element Bunsen 
has but recently shown to be everywhere distributed, yet it has 
been hitherto entirely unnoticed in all soil- and plant-analyses 
because of its occurrence in almost infinitesimal quantity. 
It must be well borne in mind that Agriculture herself—so- 
called Practice—is able of her own resources to judge somewhat 
of the value of soils, is able to know if a soil be fertile or poor, 
is able to pronounce upon its adaptation to crops, and can toa 
certain extent decide se is a good manure for this or that field. 
We are free to assert that the knowledge which is now to be 
gathered from experience, is able in ninety-nine cases out of one 
hundred, to give a more truthful verdict as to the capacity of a 
soil, that any amount of analysis, chemical, mechanical or other- 
wise, can do, e would give more for the opinion of an old ° 
intelligent farmer than for that of the most skilled chemist in 
most questions connected with farming. Doubtless the farmer 
would make some blunders from which chemistry might save 
him, but the chemist would be likely to do more violence to 
agriculture, than the farmer would to chemistry. 
_ By these statements which may, but should not surprise some 
of our scientific friends, we merely intend to express an opinion 
as to the present relative position towards agriculture of those 
who regard the art from a chemical, and those who see it from an 
~~ point of view. 
any one has fuller and more inspiring notions of the import- 
ance of science in its applications to agriculture than we have, 
we desire to sit at his feet and share the higher affatus. But our 
inspiration, if it be of the sort that works enduring benefit, must 
e based on clear ideas of the directions in which advance 1s 
part which 
Dr. Peter would have it perform. In the hands of gorengel s 
sy Ds 
