The Kansas herald of freedom., 1855-04-28

who, when asked which was the direc ion
of up stream, asceEtained the fact. and
answered the question by throwing
stone at frog, then remarking frog al
ways jumps up stream when disturbed.
The Yankee Captain who visited Sir
Joseph Bslks, is another example of this
power Of observs. ion.- Sir Joseph said
"fou appear, Sir. an ob-ervan5 man; do
you know If the crocodile really cries to
en.lce travellers. a has been staed ?'
mo, " said the Captain che canno; cry !;
he has No tongue "No tongue t,' said
Sir Joseph. mo. Sir; he has no more
tongue ti.an an elephant" HAS an ell
ephant no tongue 9, No, he has no use
for tongue /; he has trunk" .Piay,.
SIR, " said Sir Joseph. chow did you ar
rive at these faess g, "Well," sail he,
81 saw a stuffed crocodile in a doctors
shop, and | saw an elephant in meana-
gerie. Still thousands of others Nigh.
have seen the same crocodile and ele-
Pnant without ascertaining the facts
these anecdotes may not seem pertinent,
to our argument, but they are so. Let
any farmer devote the evenings of sim
gle winter 20 the reading of geology, en-
tomolo5y, chemistry, nasural philosophy
and natural history, and apply bis ac-
CURED knowledged as an amusement,
while pursuing his vocation during the
following summer, and he will find him
self able to observe and comprehend
thousands of incidents connected with
natural law, which would before have
passed by unobseryed. He will then see
and understand that the soil is but deb
ris of the rocks, that in It's original for
NATION this occurred from the combined
influence of sun and air, and Chan yes of
temperature by freezing and thawipg, in
rendering these rocks soil. He will see
how the commissions of nature have mix
ed the soils of different localities; he
viii see, also, that the earliest vegetable
growths were necessarily grosser sorts
than those now produced: and that they,
by receiving carbon from the atmosphere,
for the carbon originally must have ex-
listed there in immense quantities, in the
form of earbonic acid. by their decay
deposited it in the soil, thus improved
its quality and rendering it fit for the de-
velopement of a more advanced class of
vegetation. He viii also see where and
from what causes animal life progressed,
and can trace its progress. He will
clearly understand that such vegetable
matters as-were consumed by animals
merely change the arrangement of their
particles by such process, and tina; no
one particle was put out of existance. but
that by the decay of this animal and the
change of the arrangement of the ulti-.
mate particles, both of themselves and
their food, that they -rc-en;er natures
great storehouse, the atmosphere and the
soil, in progressed condition; that thus
both plants and animals. have progressed
to their present state.
He will next be able to observe why
deeply disin egrated soil can never SUI
fer from drouth, because he will know
that when water is absent from the soil il
is present i'll the atmosphere, and viii be
deposited on the surfaces of colder par
ticles, at greater depths than can be
reached by atmo sphere when attempting
to percola.e shallow plowed land. He
can trace the action of this moisture and
its Office in the soil; he can know wiiat
amends are required to replace those
which he may find to be deficient and
indeed. he can render himself doubly
happy and better servant OF bis Creator,
AMI his vocation amelioratins to his fell
lew-men. All this must occur il he
knows SD much of ma ure's laws as will
give his mini the first ability for closer
observance, AMI his progression as an in
! dividual will be the natural consequence
of is exercise. ALI this does not call for
the tedious exer-ions of thoughts as prac-
ticed by the mathematician ami the mer-
chant, bus merely for the culture of the
power of ob ervation to see the truths as
they ext t, aai apply them rightly; and
this. and nothing else, he will find to
constitute the science of agriculture.