416 The Neglect of Chemistry by Practical Farmers, 



Society of Scotlarxd, on the ' Relations of Science to Practice in 

 Agriculture,' places my view of the question in so strong a light 

 that I have no hesitation in quoting it : — " The true manner in 

 which chemical agriculture is to be advanced, is not merely by 

 the exertions of the chemist or the labours of the laboratory alone ; 

 it must be by the simultaneous efforts of science and of practice, 

 each endeavouring to develop, with care, steadiness, and accuracy, 

 the facts which fall within its province ; nor must each pursue its 

 own course irrespective of the other. They must go hand in hand, 

 and taking advantage of each other's experience, and avoiding all 

 sort of antagonism, they must endeavour to co-operate for the 

 elucidation of truth. The chemist and the practical man are, in 

 fact, in the position to give each other most important assistance. 

 The one may point out the conclusions to which his science, so 

 far as it has gone, enables him to come ; while the other may test 

 these conclusions by experiment, or may be able from his expe- 

 rience at once to refute or confirm them. But it Avill not do to 

 imagine that there is here either a triumph or defeat. Such a 

 spirit cannot be anything but injurious. It is rather to be looked 

 upon as a fortunate state of matters, which, admitting of the exa- 

 mination of our conclusions from two different points of view, 

 directs us with the greatest certainty in the path of truth." 



I will merely add on this subject, that the manner in which 

 Professor Way conducts his investigations, and draws his conclu- 

 sions from them, appears to me a perfect model for other chemists, 

 from the cautious process by which he advances step by step ; for, 

 instead of asserting anything authoritatively, he points out to 

 his readers the reasons pro and con, and wherefore he inclines 

 rather to the one side than the other. 



Remedy for Cause 3. — In the preceding part I have shown the 

 many difficulties that the practical farmer has to encounter in test- 

 ing the theoretical conclusions of the chemist by experiment in 

 the field, and the necessity of using the greatest caution, before 

 either condemning or placing too implicit reliance on any theory. 

 There is, however, a means, with the assistance of some such 

 tables as are annexed to this Essay, whereby the observant farmer 

 may considerably advance the science of agriculture, and that not 

 so much by making any direct experiment, as by noticing those 

 exceptional occurrences which often arise in the common course of 

 his farming experience, and which may be viewed in the light of 

 experiments conducted by the hand of nature: and there is one 

 great advantage in these inductive experiments, viz., that they do 

 not entail that expense and trouble which must necessarily be in- 

 curred for analyses, &c., when an experiment is tried in a direct 

 manner, and which alone is a sufficient reason to account for the 

 fact of so many farmers rather trusting to the experiments of others 



