THE PHILOSOPHY OF MANURING ORCHARDS. 458 



its great temples of truth ; and there are mysteries enough yet un- 

 explained in that every-day miracle, the growth of an acorn, to ex- 

 cite for ages the attention and admiration of the most profound 

 worshipper of God's works. 



Fortunately for us and for our age, too much light has already 

 dawned upo.n us to allow intelligent men ever to relapse into any 

 such degrading view of the. aim and rights of the cultivator as that 

 first presented. We have too generally ascertained the value of 

 science, imperfect as it still is, applied to' farming and gardening, to 

 be contented any more to go back to that condition of things when 

 a crooked tree was used for a plough, and nuts and wild berries 

 were suflBcient to satisfy the rude appetite of man. , The natural 

 sciences have lately opened, new revelations to us of the hidden prob- 

 lems of growth, nutrition, and deCay, in the vegetable and aniibal 

 kingdoms. Secrets have been laid bare that give us a new key to 

 power, in our attempts to gain the mastery over matter, and we are 

 continually on the alert to verify and put in practice our newly ao- 

 qittired knowledge, or to add in every possible way to the old stock. 

 Men are no longer contented to reap short crops from worn-out soil. 

 They look for scientific means of renovating it. They would make 

 the earth do its utmost. Agriculture is thus losing its old character 

 of being merely physical drudgery^ and is rapidly becoming a sci- 

 ence, full of profound interest, as well as a grand practical art, whicbj 

 Adas-like, bears the:. burden of the world on ite back. 



It is not to be denied that chemistry is lie great railroad which 

 has lately been opened, graded, and partially set in operation, to 

 fecilitate progress through that wide and comparatively unexplored 

 territory — scientific cultivation : chemistry, which has scrutinized 

 and analyzed till sh6 has made many things, formeriy doubtful and 

 hidden, as clear as noonday. And it is by watching her move- 

 ments closely, by testing her theories by practice, by seizing every 

 valuable suggestion, and working out her problems patiently and 

 fairly, that the cultivator is mainly to hope for progress in the future. 



No one who applies his reasoning powers to the subject will feil 

 to see, also, how many interesting points are yet in obscurity ; how 

 many important facts are only just beginning to dawn upon, the pa- 

 taent investigator ; how much is yet to be learned only by repeated 



