Glasgow weekly times. (Glasgow, Mo.) 1848-1861, 1854-10-19

increase orr wealth.
To enable us 10 do these things, we must
call in the aid Of science. Let me here not
be misunderstood. By science | do not
mean the process Of abstract calculation and
costly experiment. | do not mean the
knowledge that requires a lifetime Of labo-
rious study by the highest efforts of the hui
man intellect to attain, but mean the know
ledge of facts and results that are equally
accessible and beneficial to all. do not
mean that every farmer must become by
means of close closet study, man of sci
ence. but mean this That he must learn
to avail himself of the science of others
As an illustration, we do this daily in the
use Of domestic and agricultural implements
that science, laborious science, has present.
ed for our use.
To some extent, the farmers, as class,
are scientific men. They work by the same
laws that govern the chemist, and even ma
ture herself. They know the effects on
their grain Of the rain and the dew, the
frost and the heat, as well as the pbiloso-
pher, who is often obliged before any OF his
deductions can be fixed, to avail himself of
the experiments of the tillers of the soil
But there are some things that we cannot
learn by otlr own observation. We cannot
tell, for instance, what elements of fertility
our soil has or lacks, what portions of il our
crops exhaust, and what we must apply TO
it 10 restore its virgin freshness. 1t is true
we can find out these things by a series of
constant experiments, but these experiments
must of necessity be slow and expensive
Would it not be cheaper and better to take
up handful of earth and say to a chemist,
"Hsre, sir, is n portion of my farm. can
not produce from it crops that will pay me
for my labor. Can you tell me, sir, what
it lacks, and how shall supply it, The
answer will be prompt and satisfactory, Il
cam And the result of his advice--il he
the chemist is skilltul-will be crop Of
double quantity.
If | am met here by the objection that
chemists are not always convenient, nor the
manurcs he recommends accessible, will
answer that in a few years the first plain
principles Of agricultural chemistry will be
understood by nearly every intelligent far
mer in Missouri, and that the diffusion of
this important information will be an object
Of State pride, as its geology is at present
In answer to the second objection that
the manures may not always be convenient,
l will reply by the broad assertion that in,
beneath and below every arabic soil upon
the globe, nature ha, planted the exhaust
less sources of perpetual fertility, and that
the same causes that originally gave to the
soil its productiveneSs will work on for
ever in an unbroken and beautiful chain Of
exhaustion and supply. These processes
are made for use, and it is part Of Gods
providence that sooner or later we shall be
compelled TO use them.
1t is not for me, young farmer, TO cast
reproach upon the farmers Of our State, but
l am confident that it has occurred to the
observation of nearly all who hear me to-
day, that many of us cultivate our lands as
if we believe their natural fertility could
never be exhausted. Let me assure you
that there is no error so fatal to agriculture
as this. II has been the bane Of every coun-
try that was once fertile. but is fertile no
longer; and | do earnestly trust, and be-
ieve, too, that the increasing light our Ia
bors shall derive from science will check,
to great extent, and before the remedy
becomes necessary, this great waste of one
of Gods noblest blessing.
Agricultural Chemistry has taught us
that the Earth is composed of elements that
enter in various proportions, into the com
position of different plants, and that if any
soil lacks one essential to the growth of a
plant it will not mature there 1t has taught
us. also, that plants abstract from the Earth
many of the elements Of fertility, and that
il will be necessary to restore them before
the soil is capable Of producing the same
crop; and it teaches us, also, that some
plants deposit an excrement from their roots
which, while perhaps beneficial TO other
crops, will be certainly fatal to the original
plant if cultivated in direct succession, and
without the application of some corrective.
These simple truths that now startle us
with their new name Of Agricultural Chem
istry, we all knew 10 some extent before,
and by their proper application we must
expect TO preserve the original freshness Of
our virgin soils.
In illustration of these simple facts, will
read one or two of the many recorded in
stances:
FIRST EXPERIMENT,
Mr.. Reverdy johnson, says the ,4meri.
can Farmer, purchased in lS4S small
farm near Baltimore in the last stages Of i'm
poverishment. Such was its reduced con-
dition, that the last crop of corn was not
more than peck to the acre. He states
that all the vegetable matter growing on
two hundred acres of cleared land, inclu-
ding briars, sassafras, and other bushes, il
carefully collected, would have been insult
ficient for the manufacture of one four
horse load of manure. He applied TO Doc
tor David Stewart, Of Baltimore, an able
chemist, who rode ont 10 the farm, and pro-
cured specimens Of the farm which he care
fully analysed. He found that it contained
an abundance of lime, potash, magnesia
iron and organic matter, duly MIXED with
alumnis and sand: one element only of fer.
tile soil was wanting--phos phoric acid
and of this there was no trace. He com
menced an application to the soil of bi-phos,
phate of lime, preparation of bones, as tn.
best mode of supplying the deficient ele
meni. The remedy was given at an ex