1852.] THE PHILADELPHIA FLORIST. 47 



?- lam of our existence. For what is the bosom of the earth but a 

 g° great retort in which the Creator has mingled the essential elements 

 . of matter] — himself the great manipulator, mankind but his assist- 

 ants — insignificant indeed they are, and blind, but feeling around 

 them for some path to lead them into the light and open way. Let 

 those whose eager desire to grasp at the substance, take heed, lest they 

 indeed overlook the primary laws by which their puny operations are 

 regulated; let not the ignorant farmer imagine that while he laughs at 

 the agricultural chemist and his theories, he carries on his pursuits 

 without him; and let not the husbandman who sees in his barn orgran- 

 arv, the fruits of his industry stored up, boast that they are so, with- 

 out his knowing botany or vegetable physiology, or chemistry; other 

 less fortunate individuals have preceded him and cleared away the 

 rubbish, leaving him a clear path, and he takes advantage of their 

 hard labors without knowing the obligation, or acknowledging the 

 benefit. Nay, sometimes the practical man treats with scorn and 

 contempt the earnest assurances of the man of science, when he tells 

 them that without a knowledge of the laws of matter he only plods 

 on in the darkness of past ages. Why does the farmer add lime, 

 charcoal, nitrate of potash, guano, nitrate of soda, chloride of sodi- 

 um, (common salt), soot, street refuse, common manure, night soil, 

 &c, &.c. to his field and garden crops'? — simply because chemists have 

 discovered the necessity of these substances to the development of 

 the vegetable organism. Why has the venerable Liebig spent his 

 days and nights in an unwholesome laboratory, exhausting his physi- 

 cal energy, if not to benefit mankind] Why do the enlightened por- 

 tion of the citizens of this republic listen with attention and contri- 

 bute to the support of Johnston of England in this country and his 

 own! Why did Sir Charles Lyell risk a laborious journey over the 

 "States," if not to arrive at some truths and collect some useful 

 information! And when the name of Humboldt occurs, do we not 

 revere the ardor of that spirit which made all difficulties disappear in 

 order to search into nature. 



Pardon me for suggesting to you, sir, the necessity for a fair and full 

 investigation of the claims of agricultural chemistry to the notice of 

 practical men. I have seen its utility tested in the case of that un- 

 fortunate country, Ireland — for when all other projects failed, the 

 British government established a system of agricultural education, 

 blending science with practice, which promises to do something, and 

 a great deal towards the amelioration of the distress which causes 

 Ireland to be a reproach to her proud mistress England. 







The largest known flower in the vegetable kingdom, larger than the 

 Ffc Victoria Lily, is the flower of a plant called Rajflesia Arnoldii. 



I !9b«. ^Q& 



