Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1857-08-14
aerirl,ltllrul an6 lulllratir.
Ffotn tIle American Farmer.
SCIENTIFIC ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
SLOW PROGRESS. .

Permit me, dear sirs, to express to you
my gratitude for the information impart>
ed by your excellent journal to the farm
ing community.
- lt is a matter Of much qualification
that Opposition 70 book and scientific farm
ing is giving way, and that men are be-
ginning 10 see and admit that the aid of
science may. be applied to as great adVan-
tape fnsthis, as III any other employment.
Let us examine for a moment the
ground on which was based this wide
spread opposition which formerly existed.
and even now to q great extent exists,
against scientific farming.
- II is rarely the case that we find the
mass of tho people either favoring or OPP
posing any system or doctrine without
some plausible show Of reason and argu-
ment. So in the opposition Of the peo-
pie TO this mode of farming, il narrowly
examined, It will be seen that there was
reason for the conclusion which they
drew-to wit: that the whole scheme was
the essence Of folly, and if persisted in.
would inevitably lead to bankruptcy and
starvation.
-. Now, how was this conclusion drawn !?
Partly, by reasoning from false premises.
-
messed in the application Of science to ag-
ricultural pursuits. when attempted by
those who professed to teach by expert
sment as well as theory.
Ts study the arts and sciences was,
and is now. to q great degree, the pecu-
liar province OF professors and students
ia our universities, and now and then
Hch lar who pursues these branches after
quitting the academic hall.
Now let one of these scientific gentle
men who never hears the sweet carol of
early dawn, who never with nimble foot
disturbs the sparkling dew on the tender
blade, who never beholds the varying hue
of the curtains of the East, spread by the
- rosy. fingered goddess" of the morn,
elatedhwith the pride OF supposed knowl-
edge. with his volumns of Geology,
Chem stry. &C., at hand for reference,
undertake to reduce the theories of his
.cloister to practices and teach his neigh
bors the art and mystery Of scientific
farming.
This man knows nothing of the manu-
al labors and practical operations of
farm be never followed pillow day in
all his life; he is wholly ignorant of the
skillfnl use of the implements Of husband
ry, and of course is also ignorant of the
amount OF labor that one man can aud
ought to perform in day.
He might, like Mr.. Coleridge, weary
himself trying to put on horse collar,
and not know that it must be turned bot
tom upwards. until informed of the fact,
and laughed at by the servant girl. Yet
with crucible and retort he may be able
to resolve the soil into its chemical con-
stituents; he may be able to analyze the
grain and straw of wheat, the ear and
Stalk Of corn, or the seed, fibre and weed
of cotton, and discourse learnedly of the
chemical elements in the soil necessary to
the production of these different crops
but when this student attempts to make
the application of his theories and his
scientific discoveries to The pursuit of ag-
riculture, a failure is almost sure to be the
result-the prophecy of the plodding and
doubling farmer L" just like ! said" is
realized. The practical farmer alone can't
be expected to try these experiments, be-
cause he is ignorant of the teachings Of
science, and If he were to try them with
out such knowledge, he would fail also,
or succeed only by accident.
Success can only be hoped for where
scientific knowledge is combined with
practical experience and good common
sense. as these qualifications are rarely
united in one and the same person, so the
successful and profitable application oil
science to agriculture is rarely witnessed
There is one other cause which, in a
measure. retards :he progress of the sci,
euti6c farmer it is the technical dress,
ESQ to speak, in which the truths and
6tiCROunriaS of aFa cI0thoA
ry scientific writer and philosopher adj
dresses himself to men of his own class,
clothing his ideas in language and tech
who have made the science a study, but
forbidding and mysterious to the plain
uneducated farmer. These writer's seem
60 forget that the latter are the persons
who are 10 be instructed and benefited
The terms used in Geology are Hs6reto to
all except classical scholars. and often diff
6calt for them to understand. The names
of the minerals when classified, and the
fossil remains Of the earth are mostly OF
Greek and Latin origin. and although
these names are beautifully significant Of
the character OF the subject dcnominated,
yet they hinder and clog four. tifths oil
those who seek information.
Simplicity is the beauty of wisdom,
and when it shall become the ornament
and grace Of science, its study will be as
useful as it is attractive and fascinating.
The people only want-in order that
they may fuiiy appreciate the benefit Of
science, as applied to agriculture-a clear
and Ineligible preservation of principles
aud facts. such as may readily be COM
pretended by men OF common education.
L