186 
Before we proceed farther, I wish to impress on your mind the advan¬ 
tages and usefulness of a knowledge of the analysis of soils. I hope 
you are not one of those skeptieal men, who reject all “ book know¬ 
ledge,” and regard agriculture as a mere tissue of practical drudgery ; 
containing nothing beautiful or valuable, to occupy and elevate the mind; 
if you are, I can tell you it is too late in the day, to indulge such crude, 
and exploded notions :—Agriculture is a science, and a noble one too— 
worthy the best efforts of the greatest minds. No one is fully capable 
of profiting by his experience, unless he can tell the why, and wherefore, 
and this he cannot in most cases do, without a knowledge of the opera¬ 
tion of Nature’s laws as relates to agriculture. No man can be an eflfi- 
cient judge of land without he can analyze soils. I am aware many 
people by long experience have gained a certain knowledge of land, by 
which, from superficial inspection, they can in some measure judge of its 
productiveness generally, and its particular adaptation to the growth of 
certain crops. But such judges are exceedingly liable to be deceived ; in 
fact, no certain confidence can be placed in their opinions. They don’t 
know the constituents of the soil—they never trouble themselves about 
the subsoil; its capacity for retaining moisture in dry weather ; its or¬ 
ganic and saline particles ; its lime, magnesia, or iron—all these things 
which bear a most intimate relation to the fertility of the soil they never 
inquire into. The consequence is, that they do not know how that land 
will act in very dry or very wet weather—they do not know whether it 
will grow wheat, tobacco-or turnips—what manure it will require, or 
whether it does vegetably or geologically contain the means for producing 
that manure—in fact, their judgment is little better than mere shrewd 
guessing : it may possibly be right, but there is no demonstration or 
proof accompanying their opinion ; the why and the wherefore, the rea¬ 
son and the foundation for th$ir opinions are wanting; neither can they 
supply them. The man who understands the analysis of soils, knows 
all they do in a more perfect manner—and he knows more ; he can in¬ 
form you what the soil is composed of, and how its composition will act 
under certain states of weather ; how in dry weather ; how in rainy ;— 
he will inform you what crops that* composition will best grow, and what 
manure to supply to it to make good any deficiency. Hence this knowledge 
becomes of immense value. See a farmer or emigrant setting out west¬ 
ward into unsettled regions, in search of a piece of land. Suppose him 
