Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1869-10-15

other people ofdoing so, and certainly he has
stronger motives than others to lean his at
tention in this direction.
- and there Is also no reason that a man
snail be totally incapable of considering
4uestlops involving money prudence because
ne devotes his attention mainly to science for
It's own sake-that he shall be SO wrapped
up IN abstract research over crucibles and
test tubes as to have no ears for the expert
enee OF Others working upon the large scale
8 Nth the plough and the sickle.
1t IS extremely unfortunate for the pro.
gress OF any branch of industry that scientlf-
lc research in connection with it and the ac-
tual practice of the art itself should be alto
gesher In different hands. What would be
the success in business ola dyer, what would
be his chance of keeping up with the pro-
gress OF his art and especially what prospect
would he have ofhimself making any i'm
provement if he were totally ignorant of the
real nature of the materials employed by him
or the changes they undergo in passing
through his hands And Of what value to
to such manufacturer would be the scientific
knowledge, or advice of a man we'll acquain-
ted with these materials and processes, but
ignorant of their cost and of the kind of re-
suits demanded by the trade.
But there Is scarcely any pursuit so iuj uri
ously affected as agriculture by such sepa-
ration of the knowledge acquired by scientif
lc research and by routine practice of the
art ,-,las. : -.l-4st4
The greatest difficulty in the way Of de-
termlnlng questions relating to agriculture
consists in the very great number Of condi-
tons which are involved in every expert
ment. The mere fact that a field has been
treated in particular way and that good or
bad harvest follows are by no means proof
that the treatment adopted has been the cause
OF the result observed. The latter might
have turned out exactly the same if there
haa been no popularity of practice, or at any
rate the effect produced may have been great
~ modified by the. nature Of the SOIL the
choice ola high or low lying piece of ground,
the character of the season, the kind of seed
used, the time at which it was sown, the time
and weather for harvesting, the treatment
OF the land in former years, and hundred
other causes.
In word, VIC sec only the general result
OF all the concurring influences that have
borne upon the cultivated plant in all its
Stages and cannot at once separate from all
the rest the one condition whose effect we
wish to examine.
As observed before, it is only by multi
plying and multiplying experiments of
this kind. and by extending the scale upon
which they are made that it becomes possible
gradually to arrive at positive conclusions,
upon which future practice may be safely
based. Such experiments, we'll devised and
carefully carried out upon the large scale by
hundreds OF sound, practical farmers scatter
ed ali over the country, working in success
sive and different seasons, and under all i'm
aglnable variety of conditions as regards soil
and weather, yet with q general understand
ing and agreement as to what the precise
points are to be examined and hov they are
to be examined, will serve to throw more
light upon agricultural theory and practice
than any amount of mere verbal discussion,
or even than similar experiments made upon
the small scale within the means Of men of
merely scientific research
There are some questions which can be
| fully answered in the laboratory, such as the
composition of manure and its purity or
impurity.
There are others which can be answered
by experiments with growing plants in
ho"er,,pot, or upon quite small patch of
ground
There are others, and these Of great i'm
portance, which are beyond the means of
any but the practical farmers of the country.
There are still others, most important. of
all, which demand the united lab,ors of the
chemist and the farmer, or rather of many
chemists and many farmers, working togeth-
er with a clear mutual understanding of what
they want to find out, how they mean to 20
about examining the question, and how the
results are to be discussed and compared.
1t is true tina: every year sees an immense
number Of experiments made by farmers,
and many of them made with good deal
of pains and labor-the agricultural journals
are full Of reports Of the results-but unfor-
tunately great deal of the trouble thus ia
ken is wasted as far as any positive increase
Of our knowledge is concerned. Too many
experiments are undertaken without clear
understanding of what is to be determined |
without proper information as to what others
have already done in the same direction and
what remains tc be found opt, without prop
er Judgment as to the course to be pursued |
to get at tho facts in the simplest and most
certain manner, without such accuracy as to
weights, measures &c. as alone makes results
reliable, and, above all, without the adoption
Of such form of experiment as admits of |
comparison Of the results with those which |
others haye obtained. -
In proof that this is true / appeal to your
own experience. What an amazing differ
ence and variety of opinion do you find in
any gathering Of ten or twenty farmers. who |
meet to talk over the results Of their respec-
tive experience ofapy new agricultural ma
terial or method. How difficult It Is to sum
up all that they have learned by their expo
rience in the form of a distinct statement
Yet this ought not to be SO. The laws of
nature are in themselves fixed and inyaria-
BILE. The truth exists, if we can ouly lind
it out, and every experiment, and still more
the united experience of many persons devo-
ting themselves to the same pursuit, ought
to teach us something, to make some add
ton to the stores Of knowledge of those who
have gone before us.
Having trospassed upon your kind atten-
ton at such length by thus urging in gen
eral terms the Importance of united effort for
the progress Of scientific agriculture, [ will
but briefly sum up the two or three practi-
cal suggestions, which seem most readily to
grow out of the subject as it has been discus
sed r.r
In the first place, it appears clearly desira-
bic that farmers, and those who are to be-
come such shnnld recnrnize as a nart Of tho