The Illinois free trader and LaSalle County commercial advertiser. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1841-1843, 1843-06-02
From the Prairie Farmer.
AGRICULTURE A. a SCIENCE.
ny JOHN WENTWORTH, OF caIcAGo.


ence must he truly astonishing TO thos
who properly appreciate its Importance
In real utility, no branch of business vii
bear comparison to agriculture. OF al
other branches it is the parent and pre-
cursor. To it we are indebted for thu
food Of man and animals, for all our com
merce and all our wealth, both individual
and national and for the developemeu
and welfare of the human species in ever,
respect. Upon agriculture alone NOR
than one thousand millions are dependen
for their daily sustenance, and more thai
two hundred millions expcld their dali,
toll and in il more than nne-,enths q
the capital Of the world is embarked. The
fundamental principles of what oihe
branch, then, should be nor perfectly De
ve'oped or more generally understood
Or what other branch prcients stronger
claims TO our thorough stud and fall com.
prehension In Illinois ne number OF
persons engaged in agricultural pursuits
is full ten times greater thn the whole
number ofpersons employee in commerce,
manufactures, the learned Professions and
trades of every descrptionall put togeth-
er. And yet how little done for the
better understanding of ranch Of bust
ness 10 which so vital anJpredominant a
portion of the industry all worth of the
ten Il
sent, agriculture seems egraded into a
vulgar and empirical prsuit, requiring
nothing more than ordinry intelligence.
Anything beyond s'readig, writing and
reckoning, is like paint uon fences, well
enough as an ornament, ut otherwise of
no particular lmportance.i The feeling is
general among farmers TIT they need not
know much, and it is ioolrevalent among
other classes that it is vii for them that
the farmers should not now much, lest
they might arise in the superiority of
numbers and demand thr rghtful pre-
ponderence in establishing all government
tai policy. But, if ourirness d., s.aA,.
ANYTHING, their lnquirieare extended far
beyond their own purs,.s, except it may
be the practical part oi,. There are
schools of law. schoolof medicine, ard !
schools of general litature but where
are the schools Of agtullure So we
have books and treaiisdpon all other sub
jec,s but, until yer recently, where
could we turn for ,hecast knowledge OF |
the general principles farming! And,
even now, whilst law medicine and other
sciences have their lh1sands of volumes,
it is impossible to rec,n dozen standard
works upon agriculue, comprising those
of Lieheg, Daubeny Davy, ChaplaI and
tombstone. Aud hG few farmers ever
heard Of these wors, much less read
them! Our agricuAralisls. content with
practice alone, HAY neglected theory
and hence scleniifmen have had no en-
enlargement eithe'from profit or honor
in pursuit of the cannon laws of agricul-
lural production. There has been no in
terost felt on tn subject, and no such
thing as agricullut literature has existed.
As 20 tie address before agricultural So
cities, they have cen too often mere de-
inagogue appeals popular favor, talking
of Washington, ifayette, and Jackson (;
of Concord, Lexgton and Bunker's Hill /;
of d" brawny arm, huge paws and
everything else Ut the nature of the DIFF
ferent soils, the psf means of ascertalning
their special quilles, their merits and de-
iecis, and Of exaciing the maximum pro-
duce from eve portion of ground sus-
ceptible OF cuita!!on.
Now and tin, one might be bold
enough TO launa out into the precepls Of
tradition, the rR,l Of multitude OF cx-
permenls, the ngular seeings Of his own
eyes, and yet ey were all nexplicable,
all shrouded inhe deepest mystery. OIL
cause aud effe(such said as li.,e as pos
s'bIe, leaving leir audiences in darkness
and doubt as J the simplist workings of
nature and praices of art. As to what
manner plantsarry on their nutrition and
growth, the strcluie and functions of their
different organ the composition, ingredi-
ents and inllunce of the soils in which
they grow, tbelction Of manures and the
philosophy Of otalng crops and other
subjects Of semitic research Of vital i'm
povtancc in gding at the best system OF
arming-thes were all above their conf
prehension. They never thought it ne
cessary to spek Of the elementary princl'
Piles Of agriculare, derived from chemistry,
vegetable phyioogy, geology, minerol-
ogy and othel Branches of learning, for
they knew notlmg of them, nor could
they understand wha, so much learning
y 4 4 4 IL