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THE CULTIVATOR. 
TO IMPROVE THE SOIL AND THE MIND. 
On the Utility of Agricultural Schools. 
We lay down, and intend to illustrate, the follow¬ 
ing propositions : 
I. That science has become important, if not essen¬ 
tial, to the successful prosecution of the arts 
of labor; 
II. That a knowledge of many of its principles is 
particularly necessary for the improvement of 
agriculture; 
III. That theory and practice—science and art— 
when made companions, reciprocally aid and 
improve each other; and hence, 
IV. That the best way of promoting useful improve¬ 
ment in both, is to blend them together in 
schools of instruction—to teach the science 
and the art simultaneously, to those who are 
destined to manage the productive labors of 
our country. 
Our object in introducing these propositions to the 
notice of the reader, is to turn the public attention to 
the importance of wedding science to art—of teach¬ 
ing both simultaneously,—in agriculture and the me¬ 
chanic arts; and of enlisting the feelings, and invit¬ 
ing the aid, of our patriotic citizens, which we would 
fain hope might embrace no inconsiderable number of 
our statesmen, to the establishment of schools of sci¬ 
entific and practical agriculture. 
In the discussion of the subject, we shall avail our¬ 
selves of the opinions of some of the most eminent 
men of the age. Although most of the quotations we 
shall make, may have a special reference to the me¬ 
chanic and manufacturing arts, they apply with equal 
force to the art of agriculture. 
It is self-evident, that if an individual—be he a ma¬ 
nufacturer, a mechanic or a farmer—can, in conse¬ 
quence of new modes of applying and economizing la¬ 
bor, afford to sell his goods or his farm products, for 
a third less price than his neighbor—it is self-evident, 
we say, that such an individual possesses a decided 
advantage—that he will command the market—will 
grow rich, while his neighbor must grow poor—and 
that the disparity in the condition of the two, under 
like prudent management, will go on progressively 
increasing. It is precisely with communities and na¬ 
tions as it is with individuals. The country which 
produces the cheapest and best manufactured goods, 
or the best and cheapest agricultural productions, 
will ever possess a decided advantage in the market 
of nations—will monopolize the profits of commerce, 
and become opulent and powerful—while her rivals 
will sink as she rises, and become poor and dispirit¬ 
ed. So true is it, that the prosperity of a country 
depends essentially on the extent and economical ma¬ 
nagement of its productive labor. The productive 
labor of our country is performed principally by the 
agricultural, mechanic and manufacturing classes.— 
Hence, whatever tends to increase the amount of our 
domestic productions, or to cheapen their cost, has a 
direct tendency to benefit all classes—to increase the 
aggregate wealth of the state, and to multiply the 
comforts and enjoyments of its inhabitants. 
This brings us to the consideration of our first pro¬ 
position, that science has become important, if not essen¬ 
tial, to the successful prosecution of the arts of labor. 
But first let us inquire, what is science ? Sir J. J. F. 
Herschel says,—“ Science is the knowledge of many, 
orderly and methodically digested and arranged, so as 
to become attainable by one. The knowledge of rea¬ 
sons and conclusions constitute abstract, that of causes 
and their effects, and of the laws of nature, natural 
science."* It is to the latter of these branches of 
science that our remarks will principally refer. 
Half a century has produced a wonderful revolu¬ 
tion in most of the arts of labor. Old and tedious 
processes have been superseded by the application of 
science, and by inventions which the rays of science 
have enkindled into being. The elements—fire, wa¬ 
ter and air, have been brought more under human 
control, rendered more subservient to human wants, 
and are applied, to a prodigious extent, as substitutes 
for human labor. Science itself has advanced in im¬ 
provement and usefulness, with accelerated speed ; 
and the processes of the manufacturer and artisan 
are now almost wholly regulated by its laws; and 
it is progressing in new discoveries with rapid pace. 
“Indeed, such is the quickening power of science, 
that it is scarcely possible, that its simplest germ 
should be planted in the human mind, without expand¬ 
ing into a healthy growth. It generates, as it moves 
on, new thoughts, and new inquiries, and is forever 
gathering without exhaustion, and without satiety. 
The curiosity which is once awakened by it, never 
sleeps ; the genius, which is once enkindled at its 
altar, burns on with unextinguishable flame.”f The 
consequence of this accelerated progress in scientific 
knowledge, and its more general application to the 
arts "of labor, has been, that our manufacturing ope¬ 
rations have been simplified, their labor abridged, and 
their products improved and cheapened. And where- 
ever the principles of science have been applied to 
agriculture, the change has been equally great and 
salutary. But agriculture, from its modest preten¬ 
sions, its humble condition, and, we are sorry to add, 
from a limited knowledge and rooted prejudice, in 
most of those who conduct its details, has been the 
last to profit, and has profited the least, from the ge¬ 
neral discoveries and improvements of the age. Prac¬ 
tical farmers are seldom men of scientific knowledge, 
and scientific men seldom descend to the drudgery of 
practical agriculture. In the work shops, science 
and art have long been companions, and have mutu¬ 
ally profited by each other’s counsel and aid. When 
they shall combine their labors in the field, not only 
will agriculture double her products, but useful know¬ 
ledge will be diffused, prejudice will be eradicated, 
and the husbandman will rise, in the scale of society, 
to that independent position which our constitution 
and laws have assigned to him, and which the perpetu¬ 
ity of our political institutions require he should oc¬ 
cupy. 
Our second proposition is, that scientific knowledge 
is particularly essential to the improvement of agricul¬ 
ture. 
The sciences which have been principally instru¬ 
mental in improving the manufacturing and mechanic 
arts, are chemistry, and those which relate to mecha¬ 
nical philosophy. A knowledge of these is equally 
important in the business of agriculture. Chemical 
knowledge is essential to a correct ascertainment of 
the properties of soils—of lime, marl and other ferti¬ 
lizing matters—a knowledge of which would often 
save useless expenditure, and ensure certainty of re¬ 
sults. It is also beneficial in conducting economi¬ 
cally a great many operations on the farm, and in 
the kitchen. Even 
“The farm-servant,” says Lord Brougham, “or day- 
laborer, whether in his master’s employ, or tending 
the concerns of his own cottage, must derive great prac¬ 
tical benefit,—must be both a better servant, and a more 
thrifty, and therefore a more comfortable cottager, for 
knowing something of the nature of soils and manures, 
which chemistry teaches, and something of the habits 
of animals, and the qualities and growth of plants, which 
he learns from natural history and chemistry together. 
In truth, though a man be neither machanic nor pea¬ 
sant, but only one having a pot to boil, he is sure to 
learn from science lessons which will enable him to cook 
his morsel better, save his fuel, and both vary his dish 
and improve it. The art of good and cheap cookery is 
deeply connected with the principles of chemical philo¬ 
sophy, and has received much, and will yet receive more, 
improvement from their application. Nor is it enough 
to say, that philosophers may discover all that is want¬ 
ed, and may invent practical methods, which it is suffi¬ 
cient for the working man to learn by rote, without 
knowing the principles. He never will work so well if 
he is ignorant of the principles; and fora plain reason: 
* Nature and advantages of the study of the physical sci¬ 
ences. 
t Judge Story’s discourse before the Mechanics’ Institute 
of Boston. 
—if he only learns his lesson by rote, the least change 
of circumstances puts him out. Be the method ever so 
general, cases will always arise in which it must be 
varied in order to apply; and if the workman only knows 
the rule, without knowing the reason, he must be at 
fault the moment he is required to make any new ap¬ 
plication of it. This, then, is the first use of learning 
the principles of science: it makes them more skilful, 
expert and useful in the particular kinds of work by 
which they are to earn their bread, and by which they 
are to make it go far and taste well when earned.”* 
A knowledge of the principles of mechanics is also 
important to the farmer, to enable him to judge of the 
relative value of farm implements, to detect their 
faults, and to correct them. But the business of the 
farm embraces a wider scope—it embraces the whola. 
range of natural science—the earth, the air, the wa- • 
ter, and the various tribes of domestic animals and 
cultivated plants come within its purview. 
“The Creator of the universe,” says Gov. Everett, 
“has furnished us the material [for useful scientific in¬ 
vestigation]; it is all around us, above and beneath us; 
in the ground under our feet; the air we breathe; the 
water of the ocean and the fountains of the earth; in 
the various subjects of the kingdoms of nature. We 
cannot open our eyes, nor stretch out our hands, nor take 
a step, but we see, and handle, and tread upon the things, 
from which the most wonderful and useful discoveries 
and inventions have been deduced. What is gun-pow¬ 
der, which has changed the character of modern war¬ 
fare ? It is the mechanical mixture of some of the most 
common and least costly substances. What is the art 
of printing? A contrivance less curious as a piece of 
mechanism, than a musical box. What is the steam 
engine? An apparatus for applying the vapor of boil¬ 
ing water. What is vaccination? A trifling ail, capa¬ 
ble of protecting human life against one of the most 
dreadful maladies to which it is exposed. 
“And are the properties of matter all discovered? its 
laws all found out? the uses to which they may be ap¬ 
plied all detected? I cannot believe it. We cannot 
doubt, that truths now unknown are in reserve, to re¬ 
ward the patience and the labors of future lovers of 
truth, which will go as far beyond the brilliant disco¬ 
veries of the last generation, as those do beyond all that 
was known to the ancient world. The pages are infi¬ 
nite in that great volume, which was written by the 
hand divine, and they are to be gradually turned, pe¬ 
rused, and announced, to benefitted and grateful genera¬ 
tions, by genius and patience; and especially "by pa¬ 
tience; by untiring, enthusiastic, self-devoting patience. 
The progress which has been made in art and science 
is indeed vast. We are ready to think a pause must 
follow; that the goal must be at hand. But there is no 
goal; and there can be no pause; for art and science 
are in themselves progressive. They are moving pow- 
ers,'animated principles: they are instinct with life: 
they are themselves the intellectual life of man. Nm 
thing can arrest them, which does not plunge the en¬ 
tire order of society into barbarism. There is no end 
to truth, no bound to its discovery and application; and 
a man might as well think to build a tower, from the top 
of which he could grasp Sirius in his hand, as prescribe 
a limit to discovery and invention. 
“Never do we more evince our arrogance, than when 
we boast of our knowledge. True science is modest; 
for the keen, sagacious eye discerns that there are deep, 
undeveloped mysteries where the vain sciolist sees all 
plain. We call this an age of improvement, as it is. 
But the Italians in the age of Leo, and with great rea¬ 
son, said the same of their age; the Romans, in the 
time of Cicero, the same of theirs; the Greeks, in the 
time of Pericles, the same of theirs; and the Assyrians 
and Egyptians, in the flourishing periods of their an¬ 
cient monarchies, the same of theirs. In passing from 
one of these periods to another, prodigious strides are 
often made; and the vanity of the present age is apt to 
flatter itself, that it has climbed to the very summit of 
invention and skill. A wiser posterity at length finds 
out, that the discovery of one truth, the investigation of 
one law of nature, the contrivance of one machine, the 
perfection of one art, instead of narrowing, has widened 
the field of knowledge still to be acquired, arid given, to 
those who come after, an ampler space, more numerous 
data, better instruments, a higher point of observation, 
and the encouragement of living and acting in a more 
intelligent age. It is not a century since the number of 
fixed stars was estimated at about three th ousand. New¬ 
ton had counted no more. When Dr. Herschel had 
completed his great telescope, and turned it to the hea¬ 
vens, he calculated that two hundred and fifty thousand 
stars passed through its field in a quarter of an hour !”f 
It is a curious fact, that objects, at once the most 
laminar and most useful, are apt to be the last on which we 
* Library of TJseffil Knowledge, 
t Importance to practical men of scientific knowedge. 
