The Illinois free trader and LaSalle County commercial advertiser. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1841-1843, 1843-06-02

am not urging upon the farmer thu
advantages of general intelligence. They
are properly appreciated though, so far
as farming is concerned, the opinion i,
too prevalent that very little iniorma
ton, and that about the practical part OF
II. will answer as well as more. But my
object is to impress upon our husband
men the necessity of studying agriculture
as an important and profound science, re,
curing keen penetration and deep re.
search, and amply repaying one for all
the labor bestowed upon it. would
have our farmers study agriculture as the
lawyer studies law or the doctor medi
cine, whereas now the farmer seems Ia
study any thing else but that which more
Immediately concerns him. The elemen.
lary principles Of agriculture are plain and
simple; for they are the founded on the
laws of nature, which are fixed and un.
changing. The natural state of bodies,
their relations to one another, the changes
which they undergo, the phenomena OF
composition and decomposition, which
animate and constantly renovate the sur
face Of the earth, all result from the action
of these laws, right understanding of
which puts us IN possession of the ru-
dimentS of agricultural science and the
operations of the agriculiurjst serve mere
Iy to develope or modify the action of
these laws. llshat is wanting. then, is
that agriculture shall be enlightened by
the physical sciences and to them may
be attributed all the Improvements of the
last ten or fifteen years, traDscending those
Of previous centuries in importance.
1t is an oft quoted saying that he who
makes two ears of corn or two blades of
grass grow where only one grew before,
performs more essential service to his
countrymen than the whole race of pro-
iessional men, By the application of
science we can quickly ascertain the
highest degree of improvement Of which
our land is capable, and how We can turn
II to the greatest possible profit. If can
raise twice as much from Il single acre Of
tho sa"a Lind of soil originally AZ my
neighbor, am much in advance Of him
in the end; though, at first, my labors
may have been extra. have need OF less
land, and have less to fence, less to
break, less to hoe and less to harvest than
he, and yet my crops are equal to his,
1t is related of certain Italian, who had
a large vineyard aud two daughters, that
when his FIRST daughter was married, he
gave her one third Of the vineyard for
her portion, and yet he had the same
quantity Of fruit as before. When his
second daughlertwas married, he gave her
one half Of what remained, and yet he
no diminution in the products Of
his vineyard. This illustrates what |
would present in this treatise, that it is
not more land that the farmers want, but
a knowledge Of the theory Of their BUSH
ness, a knowledge Of the full capabilities
Of what land they have and the best and
most economical methods Of developing
them. In the valley Of the river Pc,
every rood Of land maintains its man
and Switzerland, with all its rocks and
mountains, is strictly an agricultural coun.
try, and supports a population Of 1912
persons to the square mile. Oar own
State can sustain IN agricultural popula.
ton greater than the present population
of the whole United Slalcs.--'Ihe virtues
of the best soils are yet not half develop
ed and much, if not all, now consider
ed waste is capable Of being reclaimed.
Now, as our population is increasing, our
land should be titled To the best advan-
lage its special qualities, its merits aud
defects, shoald be better studied, and
means must he gradually adopted for ex-
tracing the maximum produce from every
portion susceptible Of cultivation. And
all this can he done only by thorough
knowledge Of the fundamental principles
OF agricultural science. The farmer should
be able to trace the organization of vegc-
table structure and the functions allotted to
each part Of the plant from the germs
frs! appearance to the ripening of the
seed He should also understand the
composition of the soil, tie matter com
posing The structure of the plant, lie
sources whence it is derived, the manner
of its assimilation, the specific action Of
manures, wha! substances serve as a
nuIriment and whence their origin, what
plants can grow beside each other with
out injury, &c. All these things are in
dispensable for him who would cultivate
Alright; and system based upon knowl-
edge o! such facts would no complete
nnlernati IN mhai Ia rnu knnMn as