voi.: XIII. 
AUGUSTA, GA., MAY, 1855. 
NO. 5, 
WILLIAM S. JONES, Publisher. 
DANIEL LEE, M. D., and D. REDMOND, Editors. 
DEMOTED EXCLUSIVELY TO THE IMPROVEMENT O F SOUTH ERN AG RICULTURE. 
gy SEE TERMS ON LAST PAGE. 
6rnttiiiiiij trait JSisiellaittj. 
DR. LEE’S INTRODUCTORY LECTURE. 
University of Georgia, March 22, 1855. 
Dear Sir — At a meeting of the citizens and n>embers of 
the Senior Class, who are attending your very interesting 
Lectures, the undersigned were, this day, appointed to so- 
licit a copy of your Introductory Lecture, for publication 
in the Agricultural joui'nals of the State, that the general 
scope and design of the course may, in that way, be made 
known to the public. 
Your compliance with this request will oblige not only 
the meeting we represent, but we doubt not the reading 
public. With sentiments of great respect, we are 
Your obedient servants, 
Wm. L. Mitchell. 
W. D. Wash, ' ^ 
D. Scott, ^S-Committee. 
J. A. Stanley, J 
Dr. Daniel Lee, 
Terrell Professor of Agriculture, Athens, Ga. 
Athens, Ga., March 24, 1855. 
Gentlemen — I have your note of the 22d inst., request- 
ing, in behalf of the citizens, and members of the Senior 
C ’ass in the University of Georgia, who are attending my 
1 ‘ures, a copy of my Introductory Lecture for publica- 
i. 'n the Agricultural papers. It is herewith furnished 
fc at purpose. 
I am, with great respect, your obedient servant, 
Daniel Lee. 
To Messrs.: 
W. L. Mitchell, Esq., 
W. D. Wash, 1 ^ ^ 
D Committee, &c. 
J. A. Stanley, J 
Gentlemen — The distinguished founder of the Terrell 
Professorship of Agriculture in the University of Georgia 
has designated the following subjects upon which lectures 
are to be given : 
1st. Agriculture as a Science. 
2d. The Practice and Improvement of different People. 
3d. Chemistry and Geology, so far as they may be use- 
ftil in Agriculture. 
4th. Manures. 
5th. Analysis of Soils. 
6th. Domestic Economy, particularly inferring to the 
Southern States, 
No educational institution can devote a share of its at- 
tention to studies of a more practical character than those 
which have been named. It is my agreeable duty to in- 
vestigate, elucidate, and commend to your favorable re- 
gards, so far as I shall be able, the most important inter- 
est of all civilized communities ; an interest that deeply 
affects the daily bread, the necessary clothing, the greatest 
comforts and the sweetest luxuries of the human family. 
•'•'Agriculture as a Science” embraces equally the Miner- 
al, Vegetable, and Animal kingdoms, in its most com- 
mon and legitimate researches. Neither the labor, nor 
the life time of any one man is adequate to master all 
the sciences and all the arts which constitute the learned 
profession of Tillage and Husbandry. In the best agri- 
cultural schools of Europe, the labor of teaching rural 
sciences is divided between from twelve to fifteen profes- 
sors. This 'fact indicates the wide range of collateral 
studies there held to be necessary to the right understand- 
ing and wise practice of agriculture. In this country, six 
or seven professors are employed in a medical school to 
teach the Healing Art, whose subjects to be investigated 
are not so numerous as those that appropriately belong to 
the several departments of rural literature and science. 
These preliminary remarks are made that you may not 
expect too much from a single Chair of Agriculture, and 
be prepared to make due allowance for the want of suit- 
able text books, of a museum for illustrating the matters 
under consideration, and for many other impediments to 
be encountered, and gradually overcome, in a new enter- 
prise of this kind. Tirne is an indispensable element in 
the growth and maturity of every natural science, and for 
its most successful application to the industrial arts. Na- 
ture is infinite in variety and in results; and whoever de- 
votes his life to the labor of collecting and collating agri- 
cultural facts will find reason to be cautious and slow in 
their generalization, if he would avoid error, and attain 
any useful ends. Small progress made with care and cer- 
tainly is better than long strides in the dark, which com- 
monly lead to disaster, if not disgrace. No one should 
despise humble beginnings in agricultural literature and 
science ; but remember that the towering oak which has 
braved the storms of centuries, had its origin in the living 
germ, in a few microscopic cells, of a little acorn. Rural 
sciences have this advantage even in infancy; they are 
strong in vitality. They can no more die and be forgot- 
ten than the achievements of the last fifty years can be 
expunged from human records and remembrance. 
As rural affairs embiace many arts as well as many 
sciences, it is desirable to have a clear perception of the 
difference between these two departments of the profes- 
sion. Allow me to ask the question : What is the essen- 
tial difference between an art and a science? 
