Loudon free press. (Loudon, Tenn.) 1852-1855, 1854-12-21
Gbe guunun fire. 3lress.
AGRICULTURAL.
Reasons why every Farmer should our
sue his Business as a science
l. Because agriculture as a Science,

improvements in fruit culture have been made,
because men have devoted themselves to the
study of the great facts in regard to the growth
Of plants and trees; the circumstances in which
they flourish most; the chemical anal ysS Of the
elements which compose them, and the modih
cations of which they are susceptible, by proper
care and cultivation. Just so in respect of the
various soils which the farmer has to manage
If he knows the chemical elements which com
pose them, and those which compose the vari-
Gus products he wishes to grow, he will be able
to adapt his crop to his soil, and his manures
Agriculture has its laws; and that acting in
conformity with them is the basis of the only
true art in farming. For example: wheat con-
tans gluten and starch in such proportions that
they compose together Serenty.fre per cent,tm
of It's entire substance. Now, if the farmer
undertakes to raise wheat on a soil which does
not contain the elements Of starch and gluten,
he viii fail. His soil will not give that which
it does not possess. His lost labor and wasted
capital will be the penalty Of his ignorance of
the scientific conditions Of permanent success
On the other hand, the knowledge of these con.
dtions, and the application of them in the ex-
ercise of caution, common sense and reasonable
skill, will bring an abundant reward.
Every department of the great business of
farming is full Of illustrations of the point that
we are now on; namely, chat Agriculture is a
Science, and that its laws, when known and
applied, will secure results as certain as any
that attend the application of the laws of Hy
drauics in Machinery, or these of light and
chemistry in the beautiful productions Of the
Daguerrean art.
2. Because agriculture pursued as a Sci
ence, 'ciM the needtiR caution and perseverance,,
is a source Of the highest, and most constant
pleasure.
No thinking, active mind is content with
mere processes Of muscular efforts. To such
mind, the tread mill of farmers work, pur
sued from generation to generation, in the same
unvarying monotOny, is tires ONE enough. The
toll becomes dolbly toilsome because it is en-
livened by no living, and inquiring thought
And the farmer himself becomes almost as
stupid the cattle he feeds, except as politics,
or literature, or religion, shell at intervals, and
from afar,n beam of cheerful light on his mind.
Btu let every process have its well digested
theory; let every piece of work, while done in
its time, and most efficiently performed, be an
experiment which compares different modes of
maturing or cultivation; let every change be
made on sober thought, and with full knowl-
edge ofthe objects to be gained, and of the
best and cheapest means of gaining them; in
short, let the life of true Science send its
healthy pulsations through the whole system
of farmers work, and he feels a Joy "unfelt
before" IN every work to which he sets his
hand. His farm becomes his labritory. The
pleasure felt bv the Chemist or Artist, as he
eonsumates those discoveries which bring the
ends of the earth together, and revOlutionize
the social condition of nations, is shared by the
careful and laborious student in Scientific Ag-
rculture. For be is applying similar princi-
pies, and his labOr5 tend to a similar result
Every crop is a study to him, for it has its own
laws to he studied. Every season has lis charm
carefully watched. He must make suns, show
ers, and SHOWS, and frost, and fire, all to minis
ter TO his interests and work out his ends. And
in doing all this-and all this he will do, if he
works with open eve and careful hand-will he
not find pleasure so constant as to enliven
his heaviest toll, and so varied as to strip OF
their charms and false attractions of city life
and so purely intellectual and refined, as to
place him in dignity and ann side by side with
the great brotherhood of thinking men, whose
hands have been busy, but whose brains have
been more busy still; and who have done mos
for the wealth and comfort Of the race; because
they have done most for its improvement in al
solid and enduring Science.
3. Because Il ,rould be qreat7yt to the pecnmi
ary advantage Of TIE farmer 10 pursue hi
rocdtioR asa Science.
If he pursues his work simply because he ha
done so before, or because his father or hi
neighbors have done so. he shuts out all i'm
provement of course. If he makes change
blindly, he is much more likely to lose than t
gain. Besides, if he makes experiments a
random, some of his neighbors-and perhap
he himself-will set down his failures to III
account of Scientific farming; and he the NOR
confirmed in their old ways, because of hi
blindness and blunderisg in single case
But ifhe studies, during his leisure, the result
Of former experiments in the department he
enquiring about;if he converses with intelligeu
men, who have been successful in the sam
branch, and who understand and will explai
to him the principles and processes which the
have adopted, he will be safe in following thei
example. And thus prodceding-wi;h though
ever active, and making due account of all di
rerences between his experiment and theirs h
viii very probably be far more successful tha
in any other way. 4 little example of the di
advantages Of ignorance. on a single point, wi
illustrate this matter. Within sight of the viii
dow by whose light Il e present article is VII
tel, is a strawberry bed-ItS owner prepare
she ground carefully enriched II we'll an