New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1844-06-12
vel. Nv. NO. 81.
Science for Farmers.


appear altogether disconnected with theirs. This
cannot be considered strange, particularly when
ii is remembered how many pretended inventions
and Improvements, founded entirely in ignorance,
arc palmcd off every day upon the credulous.
Few can apply the proper tests to these pretcnsons
and being deceived few times, men form habit
of suspicion, which is indiscriminatoly indulgcd
against the true as well as the false; distlnc-
ton is made between Theory and Practice,
which leads to the greatest errors. Men forget
that the practice Of to-day was yesterday theory
and that with rare exceptions, all the great I'M
provements in farming as well as IN all the other
Arts are the results Of careful research. Our
fathers would have ridiculed the application Of
| lime 10 the farms they had Impoverished IN their
practical way and so many farmer is now
| turning away from other "thcoreical suggcs
TONS" which will be the practice OF his sons. 1t
would be well for men 70 be more cautious IN
condemnng Theory; and III the face Of the expe-
renee Of the last two hundred years such a habit
indicates either gross ignorance or wlliulnesS
Nothing could appear more ianci(ul than the OK
periments OF Galvanc with little pieces OF differ
ent metals on the muscles Of frogs, and any
! theories arising from these would, we might have
thought, be well received as wild schemes yet
the world is every day gaining some new benefit
from their results. The last is this Electro Mag
nctic Telegraph, which when first proposed was
considered by practical men entirely Impractical
| bic as was Fulton's proposition to construct
vessel to go BY steam power.
| Having so often heard farming books and farm
ing papers condemned by farmers, who, we thought,
should have known better, and knowing how
prevalent this prejudice is, we arc induced toPur-
sue the argument farther than its importance
NAV seem TO demand. Though The question may
be settled thousand times still as repeated rams
aud frequent hocing arc necessary TO insure
bountilul crop, 50 true knowledge can only be
disseminated by repeated lessons and frequent
roofing out of the weeds OF error. These books
and papers contain the results OF trials made by
individuals in all parts OF the world, and thus
they put in the hands Of each the multiplied eX-
pcricncc of all Beside this they contain sug
gcsti0ns from men occupied IN other pursuits,
which nevertheless may have bearing upon
agriculture that the farmer little suspects. HIS
observations are confined to the practical opera.
ton Of substances upon each other III rather
Limited routine. The nature and composition OF
these complex materials he has few means and
little time to learn, and their effects he can neither
predict beforehand nor afterwards explain. slight
deviation from an established path, of which he
may himself be unconscious, produces results
| he cannot comprehend. He meets with soils
which resist his efforts 10 improve them, and has
treasures perhaps that may enrch all his lands,
! living useless aud unknown. Another class If
mcn are occupied IN tie study OF The laws pi
nattcr-in tracing out each Ingredient IN all lis
| intricate combinations, and ascertalnlng It's ell
| ects upon other substances IN each one. Ihc!r
conclusions are often applied 10 practical pur-
poses III various arts and sciences, e. z. chalk or
marble in powder they find renders the vlrulcnt
poison, oxalic acid, inert; this is made known 10
the medical practitioner, and carh. lime and carb.
mapnesia become antldolcs to this poison taken
INTO the human system.
So again it was noticed by Orfa that albnre1
fora,cd an inert compound with corrosive subj
mate and the white Of eggs is now the antldoe
ior this poison. So IN the growth of planis-ii
by scientific research 1t is ascer;aned that Carb
Lime or Carb Potash will not only render inert so
deadly substance as SuIphatc of lron but con-
vert il into valuable fertilizer, shall the farmer
refuse this because to him it sounds like theory =?
AS we'll might he refuse to take himself the Carb
Lime or the Albumen for the Oxalic Acid or
Corrosive Sublimate he may have swallowed
And if plaster is found in the laboratory of the
chemist to be wonderful absorbent and retainer
of so valuable but volatile product Obstacles and
wards as Ammonia, shall the farmer refuse 10
spread it for that purpose because he knows
nothing Of the Ammonia, and believes 1t all
theory With as much wisdom he might class
his lightning rod with the horse. shoe nailed up to
keep of evil spirits, and take them both down
together.
The extent of the beneficial applications of
chemical and geological to agricultural science we
have yet hardly begun to learn. All the depart
ments of knowledge are more closely woven 10
gcthcr than we imagine. The same general laws
obtain in all created things, and so harmonious
and extensive are they their operation, that TIE
striking OF the most obscure chord may vibra'e
through the whole system of nature, and lead us
10 a better understanding, even of those things
which apparently we were not investigating.
This introduction may perhaps be followed
with some remarks on the beneficial effects TO be
derived from the chemical analysis OF soils.
J. 4. HODGE, 70 Chambers street.