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XXIV. — On M. J. Reiset's Agricultural Experiments* 
By P. H. Frere. 
An interesting contribution to scientific agriculture has lately 
been made by M. Reiset, who appears to combine in a high 
degree the character of a learned chemist with that of a sensible 
farmer. This combination is as valuable as it is rare : for the 
mere farmer is often uncommunicative or unable to impart to 
others his own conclusions ; whilst if any one speak as the mouth- 
piece of pure science, his dicta, when confronted ^with practice 
and tested by experience, are pretty sure to require qualification. 
The scientific attainments of M. Reiset have been displayed in 
various communications to the ' A^nales de Chimie et de Phy- 
sique,' &c. A gold medal, presented to him by the Agricultural 
Society of Rouen, is evidence of his reputation as a farmer. 
Since 1850 he has farmed some 250 acres of his own land, near 
Dieppe, where he planted his laboratory, with the purpose of 
bringing his scientific researches to the test of the balance- 
sheet. Having the advantage of good markets he was well 
situated for trying intensive culture, " or that system of manage- 
ment which gives the land no rest, but aims at securing a 
maximum crop by a liberal outlay." Accounts have been kept 
and stock taken with the utmost care to make them unimpeach- 
able ; wear and tear and costs of cultivation have been duly cal- 
culated, and from the survey of these details several weak points 
in the enterprise struck the mind of the owner, particularly the 
heavy expense which arises from wintering stock without a supply 
of roots. 
After some fourteen years of unremitting attention to these 
points M. Reiset writes : — " Unfortunately there is nothing more 
difiicult than to explain (inettrc en relief) processes adopted in 
the cultivation of the soil, to exhibit the reasons for these .pro- 
cesses, and to state in detail the systematic management of the farm, 
as can be easily done for any commercial undertaking." Baron 
Liebig, on the other hand, in the preface to his ' Natural Laws of 
Husbandry,' says, "I have never yet met with an agriculturist 
who kept a ledger, as is done as a matter of course in other 
industrial pursuits, in which the debtor and creditor account of 
every acre of land is entered." t 
* ' l?echerches Pratiques et Expdrimeiitales sur L'Agronomie.' Par J. Keiset," 
Correspondent de L'Institut de France. (1803. J. B. Pailliere.) 
t There is certainly a remarkable contrast between these passages. M. Reiset, 
having had practical experience in farming, would probably award some praise to 
title farmer who could give a clear account of the expenditure and receipts of any 
one iield on his farm ; whereas ]jaron Liebig, giving as he does to tradesmen aii 
undue amount of credit for method and accuracy, founds a reproach upou what is 
an imperfect analogy. 
