854 = 555 Influence of Chemical Discoveries, ^c. 
In the introduction to this sketch of the influence of chemica. 
discoveries on the progress of English agriculture I brieflj 
alluded to the value of the Rothamsted field experiments ; ir 
the concluding pages I again referred to them somewhat mon 
in detail, and at the same time spoke of the recent extension o; 
field experiments in England and Scotland. This short accoum 
of the experimental stations in Great Britain maj appropriatelj 
wind up my report, for it appears to me suggestive of th« 
direction which chemico-agricultural investigations have t( 
take, in a more decided manner and on a more extended scale 
than in years past, in order to be followed by practically usefu 
results. 
Agricultural not less than scientific progress, in a greai 
measure, is based on well-conceived and carefully executed ex- 
periments : and in no department of inquiry so much remains 
to be accomplished as in the difficult and intricate field ol 
agricultural experiments. During the past twenty-five or thirt> 
years the chemical ground, so to say, has been well cleared b\ 
numerous analytical researches into the composition, physiologica 
effects, and practical value of many kinds of feeding-materials 
the composition and chemical properties of soils, and the 
chemical character and value of manures ; and the time has now 
arrived when the labours of the chemist can only be expected tc 
bear still more useful fruits than hitherto if his investigations 
are largely put to the test of practice in the fields and feeding- 
stalls of the farmer. 
Let us therefore hope that the example set by Mr. Lawes. 
at so much expenditure of time and money, and with so much 
benefit to the agricultural community at large, will stimulatf 
others, as it has done of late the Council of the Royal Agri- 
cultural Society of England, to promote the establishment and 
maintenance of agricultural stations, which, if well directed, are 
calculated to exert the most beneficial influence on the future 
progress of British agriculture. 
