Litchfield enquirer., 1853-10-20

0tAOS SOUkS 1tA bttO tOhAO tStSS Va tsANr Pacific; for him the dark caverns of the interior are explored, and 10 his ptofii must their hidden wealth be made sub servienl; for him the mountains them, selves are broken to pieces, and their fragments ground to powder or buinel 0ps The steamships breasting the waves of the Atlantic, the locomotive thHHdert ing along it's iron pathway, the manufac
 tory. with its din and motion of its strong and numberless, yet perfect parts -all have in them something of the sublime, but it is snbliniiy bon of confbs1pIas tion of the power ofsnan alone !; the vast enginery. with which the tiller of ofshessoil is to become cenyefsant, is tie round globe which we inhabit, with it's mysteri. ous and ever changing phenomena- whose Builder aud Maker is God. !.
 Itis impossible. in the limits which I have proposed for myself, even to allude to all the branches of this wide reaching study. But some of them are of such peculiar importance, that you will be patient while I'briehy refer to them. A writer from one of the wheat growing counties of New York, in speaking of the agricultural prospects of that region, remarks: Our lands are mostly new and as yet unexhaasted, but our farmers do mol study the difference in soil, or of.any of it's defects, for the improvements of crops. This will occupy their attention when the land has been deprived of it's original fertility by improvident culture. No. until then, will the science of soilnnd manures open a resource for successful tillage and improved crops" The period thus anticipated for Western New York has already arrived for us in Connecticut. The process, now going, on there. has been accomplished here. Many of ohr lands have been under cultivation for nearly or quite two centuries. and during great portion of this period the culture has been of the most improvident kind. Our fathers. like all early occupiers of the soil, pursued systems which weakened the productive capacity of the land, with- out restoring to it. either in quantity or kind, the feriilixing materials which it required. The mould of the primeva! forests disappeared soon sfier ihe forest itself. and the past generations seem never to have thought of maintaining an uninpaired fertility born of the fallen foliage of a thousand years. It issno wonder that. under such circumstances, the fields cf New England are less pro. ductive than those of the more recently settled sections of the country. But the evil that has been done is not yet remed> iless {; agricultural science. though coni-
 paia,ively in is infancy, has already opened to us plentiful "resources for successful lillage and improved crops" !" The inclination. once so prevalent, to dis,
 regard ito teachings. as the mere theorIes of book woims. who never yielded a hoe or handled blow, is passing away. and many of our most practical farmers are willing 10 acknowledge their obligation to the scientific student. Why is this hill side barren. while that is clothed in .luxu,ia verdure? Why does my field produce but poor and scanty crops. while my neighbur's is at once his pride and p,ofi !? l plow and plant as he does l use the same manures why is he grows ing rich, while I become poor? How often may ile simple diversity of soils explain all this ]? What are those ele- mentary particles. in, the composition oI the earth surface. which furnish the food of plants !? which give plumpness and solidity to the grain of wheat. or the kernel of maiz, ? which impsrt size and flavor 10 the tusnip, the beet or the potatoe? In what locality will the apple, the peach or pear attain their greatest perfection? ? Whats the shade of differ ence which makes this field best adapted for pasture, that for meadows or a-third for arable? The routine farmer has learned something of this by practice and tradition --but can he tell what is the component pat that is waning to pro. duce the desired crop in any specified place :? If he cannot. can he set to worh intelligently to supply that want and il he can do neither. can he hope to com pete with him who, to careful practice in the fields. unites equally careful study al home? And for ignoraace upon these topics to the growing generation of farN mers there is now no excuse.
 The chemists of Europe and America have devoted their best energies and the most profound knowledge tothis subject; they have toiled in the furrow and in the harvest field by day and by night under thc scorching sun and the chilling dews, they have watched the germination, the growth and riPcning of Planss. They have ga,tered specimens from every civ ilized cline, and samples of each feriilizing material which beast or bird, or yths yegei. able or mineral kingdom has supplied ]; and in their dim and smoky lahoIaleues. have s1bjecied them all to rigid dnd patient analysis. They have done this with little prospect of sevasd fer ihem> selyes, except the consciousness of doing