398 THE INSTRUCTION OF FARMERS’ SONS 
the influence of air and food, and a thousand external causes 
upon them—the complicated nature of their diseases—the diffi¬ 
culties respecting the simplest of them, and which long obser¬ 
vation and experience can alone give to the owner or the surgeon 
the power of successfully combatting, and he will be our patron, 
our friend. He who knows most of the horse is most anxious 
and most thankful for our advice ; it is he only who knows 
nothing about the matter who thinks that he can do without us. 
Then we have no fear or jealousy about the dissemination of 
this kind of knowledge,—at least, if we are well instructed our¬ 
selves we have not; our chief fear would be the exposure of our 
own ignorance. We can, therefore, truly say, that we wish Mr. 
Hawkins all the success he merits, and that we should be most 
proud to contribute our humble aid towards the accomplishment of 
his purpose. Y 
It is the object of this paper to recommend the establishment 
of schools throughout the kingdom, for teaching farmers’ sons 
the elements of the sciences; such, for example, as Chemistry, 
Vegetable Physiology, and Mechanics. And, in the progress of 
it, I shall endeavour to shew, first, the usefulness of such know¬ 
ledge, and then the method by which it may be generally 
diffused; and I think I can make out both these points to the 
satisfaction of any body who will take the trouble of attending. 
To prove the importance of agriculture to a community, seems 
very like demonstrating the advantage of having food to eat and 
clothes to wear. That it is indeed “ the first and greatest con¬ 
cern of every nation, and the foundation of its prosperity in every 
other matter,” is a truth so universally acknowledged, that it has 
obtained almost the currency of a proverb. But in spite of this 
general recognition of its supremacy, a due proportion of human 
ingenuity has never been directed towards the investigation of its 
principles. The mechanical arts have been carried to a high 
degree of perfection by the labour and genius of such men as 
Watt and Arkwright, and in every town we see rising round us 
institutions for the education of mechanics. But what, of a 
similar nature, is being done for agriculture ? We may look in 
vain for the institutions which should diffuse among practical 
farmers even that knowledge which already exists. The principles 
of agriculture may have been explored by the genius of Davy, 
and its practice reformed by the labours of Young, but dis¬ 
coveries and experiments can be useful only as far as they are 
known. Mr. Tennant has shewn how the farmers in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Doncaster might have told that there was magnesia 
amongst their limestone, and that consequently it would be 
