188 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
June, 
justly celebrated chemists in official capacity, has been 
wasted in some instances. There is nothing satisfac¬ 
tory to the scientific agriculturist in reading an analy¬ 
sis of a limestone stated as follows: 
Carbonic Acid,. 48 82 
Lime,. 31 12 
Magnesia,. 16 06 
Insoluble Matter,. 4 00 
100 00 
Such exhibitions of professional folly may do for 50 
years ago, but in the middle of the nineteenth century, 
we recognise no such substance as “ insoluble matter” 
in our nomenclature. In this same insoluble matter 
may be hid the very pabulum of vegetable life. 
There is a great deal of prejudice yet to be over¬ 
come before a rational and scientific agriculture is un¬ 
derstood and practiced. From my own observation, I 
am convinced that the scientific light diffused by your 
valuable Journal, makes very little impression on the 
mental retina of hundreds of farmers who support it. 
The greatest extent of the good accomplished in many 
instances, is expressed in saying, that the mechanical 
appliances of farming are improved. It becomes, 
therefore, the interest as well as duty of him who would 
bring science to the aid of agriculture, to make every 
labor as complete as possible, and especially to avoid 
the dogmatic introduction or support of untested theo¬ 
ries, and that narrow minded ignorance which enter¬ 
tains the possibility of making any one discovery, that 
shall remedy the failings of the present practice. 
Scarcely less despicable is that species of charlatanism 
which prompts the advertisement of agricultural nos¬ 
trums. They are always to be suspected of those who 
entertain, as did Lord Bacon, the sentiment that 
“ Knowledge, like the light of Heaven, is pure, free , 
exhaustless. ” 
Much is to be hoped from the labors of scientific 
men, conducive to the interests of agriculture. The 
farmer has to deal with nature; to follow intelligently 
his business supposes a knowledge of her laws. Those 
laws are the professed object of the chemists inquiry, 
and hence follows,—what experience has a thousand 
times established,—the ability of the chemist, to fash¬ 
ion his practice, so as best to assist, and imitate nature 
and consequent!} 7 ', to gain from her the greatest 
amount of benefit. 
Farmers’ sons must be instructed in Natural Science 
The mind is the great instrument, and this mind must 
be cultivated. All are familiar with the difference be¬ 
tween the crab apple and the beautiful grateful fruit 
that yearly adorns our orchards; no less difference is 
there between the mind native and cultivated. There 
is no better means of a speedy and harmonious devel¬ 
opment of means intellectual, physical and moral pow¬ 
ers, than the study of nature. Do our great chemists, 
geologists, &c., fall behind mathematicians, and classi¬ 
cal scholars in mental acumen or profundity ? They 
oertainly occupy a greater rank in view of the utility 
of their labors. The natural sciences offer this decided 
advantage ever every other study to the young farmer, 
that they are of direct application to the daily concerns 
of his life. 
Let him then be more concerned to know the nomen¬ 
clature of chemistry, than the Greek alphabet. Let 
him study Liebig before Virgil, and Boussingault before 
Horace. Not that I would cast any reproach on the 
study of the classics, but I would have education adapt¬ 
ed to the wants of the educated. Every farmer should 
be thoroughly acquainted with chemistry, botany, zoo- 
loogy, &cc., as affecting the principles of his art. Not 
that every farmer should be a chemist,—that would be 
impossible;—but many possessed of natural tact, might 
render themselves sufficiently expert in analysis to ma¬ 
terially benefit their business,, without interfering with 
it. The schools of practical chemistry that are spring¬ 
ing up in our midst should be well supported by our 
farming community. 
The reason why so few young men of talent and in¬ 
tellectual promise are found engaged in cultivating the 
soil, is that agricultural pursuits, as commonly practi¬ 
ced and understood, offer no gratification to the mind. 
The proper application of science to husbandry, will 
remove this evil; and so soon as provisions are made 
for the education of farmers, equal to those now fur¬ 
nished for physicians and lawyers, we shall behold the 
intellectual, as well as the physical energies of our 
country, devoted to the perfection of agricultural pro¬ 
cesses. 
But I did not intend a lecture on book-farming, edu¬ 
cation, &c., and begging pardon for this desultory di¬ 
gression, I will conclude by recommending to the inha¬ 
bitants of Lewis and every other county, that are sup¬ 
plied with calcareous rocks, a liberal use of lime upon 
their fields, and let some of them perform a series of 
accurate experiments upon its fertilizing powers, after 
the many good examples that have been furnished to 
them through the pages of The Cultivator. 
“ Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send 
forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.”— Isaiah. 
S. W. Johnson. Deer River, Leivis Co., N. Y., April 
15, 1849. _ 
Self Improvement. 
“The proper study of mankind, is man.” 
So thought an old poet, and undoubtedly he was right. 
But, if we were to judge by the studies pursued by the 
great mass of mankind, we must come to a different 
conclusion. The acquisition of wealth seems to be the 
study of the present age, and gold is sought, it may be 
as eagerly, and at the same expense of health, happi¬ 
ness and life, by him who digs the soil, or wields the 
hammer, as by the individual that “leaves all” and 
seeks treasure on the brilliant banks of the Sacramento, 
and both may be equally deaf to the exhortation of the 
wise man— 
“ How much better is it to get wisdom than gold.” 
Human nature is the same everywhere, its study is the 
same, and a knowledge of it is of great importance. 
“ Know thyself.” This should be engraven as with 
the “point of a diamond” on every one’s heart, and 
kept continually before the mind. Such a study, rightly 
conducted and persevered in, would lead to the impor¬ 
tant duty of self improvement. That should be the 
object of study. Wiser and better, should be the senti¬ 
ment. To labor with our hands is not our whole duty. 
The intellect must not be neglected. To improve in 
the management of business, is well; to improve the 
mind is better, being a greater result, and which will 
lead to the other. 
How shall we improve ? 
Train the mind to right reasoning. There is a class 
of persons that are sadly deficient in this important 
faculty. Rising up early and sitting up late, and labor¬ 
ing hard, they can scarcely keep free from pressing 
want. The fault is not in their labor, but in their 
plans,—in the arrangement of their business. They do 
not adopt the best method to perform their labor, 
and consequently work to disadvantage. It is of no 
kind of use to be “ hurried to death,” from early in the 
spring till late in the fall. Sit down and calculate, tak¬ 
ing all things into consideration. See how much you 
can plow, plant, hoe, and harvest, and then go to work 
systematically. Not only estimate the amount of your 
labors, but to do everything the best way, and do one 
thing at a time. It is folly to commence a piece of 
work and leave it half finished for something else, to 
be left incomplete. What ought to be done should be 
