Plymouth advertiser. [volume] (Plymouth, Ohio) 1853-1988, 1854-04-22
agrmultural.
EDUCATION OF FARMERS SONS

The business. pursni,s. life, or whaisy
or else, the profession Of the farmer ma
be termed, Is no, necessarily. las SON
would have y, bslie,e,) one Uf Ineesssr
toll, and groveling drudgery, wholly q
the "EsrIh. Earthly" For the farms
Dc thai favored being, who is in point G
iaci working practical assistant chemis
not TO be sure, In the labalory Of an earl
chemist, sul in the great laboratory Of s
Infinite One. For from time the frs
movement of the germ in the seed tn
farmer commits 10 the earth, up TO th,
full maturity of the crop il pruduces, il
one continuous series Of chemical chan
ges md effects. .7ll those various spplI'
ances the frmer bnrgs into requisIlIion
for increasing the amount Of his crops
such as msnurlng. ploughing. hoeing The
soil, &c are but necessary means used lC
assist nature IN bringing about. and per-
feeling those wonderful chemical changes,
by which single grain Of coin is made
TO yield its sixty, eighty, or an hundred
And stupid, indeed, must be that liller oI
soil, who feels no instructive longlngs, tt
learn show and VI refore" of all this;
but is content, 10 plod on year afler
year, in sowing his seed, and resping his
crops. without even attempting to lnvesti
gate and search out the workings of those
laws BY which such wonderful results are
wrought out
But the labor Of a farmer, as a chemist,
does not cease, even wnen his crops are
all secured, and safely garnered up IN their
appropriate places of deposit. For then
commences another series Of chemical
processes by which his hay, grain, roots,
&C., are to be transmitted into beef, pork,
poultry, mutton, wool, &c. And much,
very much, of the profit, in feeding out
these farm crops, depends upon the far
mer's knowledge of animal chemistry or
physiology.
But the "proft and loss" of feeding
out domestic animals, nre matters of pc.
cuniary consideratlon-mere "dollars and
oents,' about which we did not mean 10
write, when We commenced this sheet.
Our object was 10 show that farming did
not consist wholly in forking over water
soaked manure, and digging and should
ering baskets Of half.ro!ted potatoes. But,
far otherwise. 1t was our intention 10
show that farming, in lis broadest mean.
ing, was truly favorable to the highest
mental, moral, and religious enjoyment
+ man. For The study and investigation
of those ia,Cs, that have SO intimately
connected together the earth, the plant,
and the animal, there are found inexhaus-
tlble and everything sources of useful
insurcton and unaIlyed qualification.
For illustration, lake The properties of
the atmosphere in reference TO It's purpos>
es in vegetable and animal life and how
beautiful 1t illustrates the wisdom, and the
benlhcence of its great uthor.
"The atmosphere by which we are sur
rounded, is composed of mixture of OK
ygen, nitrogen, carbonlc acid, water va
por, and ammonia, and every living thing
on dry land, nnimaI and vegetable, is
bathrd in it, lives on it, and such in its
adaptation to The wan Of animals and
plants, tina neither class of Huiag beings
viliate, or impair its suitableness for the
other, bat the very reverse of this. for
each is the appointed means of preserving
1t IN salubrous state for the other class;
the plant constantly adding to i, food Tor
the animal. the animal constantly supply
ing food lor the plant"
The mixture constituting the atmos-
pnere is composed of four elementary
bodies, VIZ -. xvgen, nitrogen, (these
two forming The grea buIk.) hydrogen
and carbon And they are susceptible of
forming among themselves and with 9th
er substances, an inhnity OF chemical
combinations, and Of yielding an endless
variety of organic products. both animal
and vegetable, which We no more
number than we can the stars of heaven.
From The four organic bodies above named,
are produced more than ninety per cent.
OF nearly all animal and vegetable SUBJ
stances. They are raw material, out of
which all the organic portions (tnose
portions that can be dssi pa,ed by the
action of fire. of the various farm crops
are manufactured and the study of agri-
cultural chemistry possesses a double in.
teres' for the farmer, pecuniarly and 10.
iellectua!iy-the last as attractive and en-:
nobling as any ef the branches connected
with he (so-calIed) profession.
From agricultural chemistry we learn
the iudestEuctibiily of matter. When
plant or an animal dies and decomposes,
lis atoms will feed and nourish any grow
ing plant. and that in turn will feed and
nonrlsh any growing animals. Repro
duc'ior and decay follow each OF er's
footsteps throu 4hout The whose system of
nature, and the conditions of life and
death are mnrually involved in, and de-
pendent on each other. sand there is pre
badly not an atom on the surface of this
planet, which is capable of organization,
that has not been many lines endowed
with vitality Every time we breathe
our bodies lose part of their solids"
Water is formed of two invisible gass.
es. oxygen and hydrogen; and all are
aware of the importance Of this lndispen.
sable fluid for the successful growing of
farm crops. But how few regard it, only
as a thing, necessary TO the common uses
and purposes oflife. But He. that made
the dry land, made the water also. Ab