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

~ upon experiments, maze on the small
| scale in the laboratory. or under more or
less artificial conditions reasonings
and conclusions have been expressed in Ian
guage SO far technical as to repel the great
er number Of general readers On the 9TH
er hand, the efforts at Improvement in agri
| cultural methods made by practical farmers,
have been made, in far too many instances.
without an adequate knowledge of such well
| ascsrtained laws Of nature as bear upon the
questions at Issue, without acquaintance with
the facts already ascertained by workers
the same direction, and without such adegree
ofaccuraey and precisionin the determination
| and statement of the means employed and
the results obtained. can alone render useful
to others the experience Of those deyoting
| themselves to such research. xtt N,f
Such onc-sidcd investigations, whether by
the man of science or the tiier of the soil, are
greatly to be deplored.s 9o..
Amongst the noblest pursuits thatcan en-
gage the thought and energies Of man is the
discovery of. the Interchangeable laws of ex-
ternal nature and the manner in which We
must make one word accord with thcir die
tates if we are to draw from the stores OF
wealth. with which a kind providence has
surrounded US all, that we may enjoy OF
comfort and prosperity.
There are four principal steps in tho pro-
cess by which man learns to subdue the re-
sources of the world about him to his service
and enjoyment. .U
FIRsr-Obseruatioa of facts in nature.
SEcoND.-E'rperiment. for the discovery
of further facts.
TuIRD.-Logical deduction of principles
from the facts ascertalned.
neutrality-suspicious. of facts and prin-
ciples, when determined, to the practical
wants of our daily Life,
The husbandman notices the regular re-
turn of seed-time and harvest, the usual
SUGGESTIONS of the seasons, the facts that GER
tain plants require certain climates and
thrive best in certain soils, that in a new
country dense natural growth of hard wood
trees is an indication of fertile land, while
thin scrubby pines furnish as distinct evil
dence of poverty OF soil.
AS regards such observations the main
requirement is that they be accurate---that
they be recorded in such way as to really
represent the truth, not part of the truth
nor mixture Of truth and error, but the
whole truth fully, fairly and impartially
stated. Thus, for instance, it is matter of
the most common remark that the accounts
given by travellers in distant and little
known countries Of what they have seen and
learned vary enormously in reliability.
Two men will visit foreign land, and
although both men Of intelligence, both
having had fair opportunities for observa-
ton, and both free from any disposition will
fully to deceive, they will make reports diff
fering from each other almost as light from
darkness The one may be careful to ex-,
anime into the sources Of his information
and to verify his supposed facts as he accu-
mulates then,-the other may set down as
facts what he has but imperfeetly seen or
uncertainty heard. Or, even though both
reports contain nothing but we'll ascertained
facts, nothing but what could be proved to
be true, yet the one may contain large and
fair collection Of all the principal facts bear
ing upon the questions discussed, while the
other contains only such unusual and eKcep-
| tionable facts as totally nlisrepresent the
| general condition Of things.
[ know not what your experience here
may have been, but further South there are
few people who have not within the last
three or four years heard just such conflict
ing accounts Of the observations made in
Brazil and some other countries by those
who went thither at the close Of the recent
war, some of those who returned represent
ing the region visited as paradise, in
which it scarcely required more than the ex-
ertion Of dropping the seed to ensure the
most luxuriant harvcsts, while others brought
away the impression that the hardest toll
and the greatest prlyations could scarcely
be expected to result otherwise than in half
starvstion, ruined health and shattered for
| tunes.
It is not so simple or SO easy matter as
it at first appears to see truly, fully and
| without distortion what is before our eyes,
and then faithfully to report what we have
seen, neither more or less, to others.
A farmer who has always lived in certain
portions Of Virginia might state as the result
of his observation that red land yields good
crops-another, living in parts of Georgia
or Alabama, might assert that the poorest
soil is that of red lands-both statements
might be locally quite correct, but if either
be put in the form Of a general observation
that all red land is good Or all bad, the err
ror of fact is manifest, and the two obser
vers might dispute for ever over the So called
facts without deriving any benefit from the
argument
But the thoughtful man is unwilling to
rest satisfied with simply thus observing
what passes before his eyes in the undisturb
ed course of nature He often desires to
change the conditions which go to produce a
certain result-to see what will happen if
such aad sach arrangements be made by
himself beforehand 10 take the plant which
he has always noticed growing by the river
side aud see whether it can be made to grow
in upland soil; and, if SO. whether its habit
and character will be altercd-to determine
by experiment in the laboratory what are the
substances drawn from the earth by par
ticular crop, and by experiment in the field
whether the application of these substances
artifcialy to poor land may not increase its
fertility-to find out the several circumstan-
ces which separately seem to favor the pro-
duction for any form of vegetable growth, |
and then, by attempting the culture of the
same under all these favorable conditions
united, to try what is the best and the larg
est product which can in practice be obtained.
In making such intentional changes of
natural eolditioEs-in trying Experiments
tho same aecuraoy--tie SAME careful at
tention to what really takes place before our
eyes must be observed az when we simply /
notice tho operations of nature unaffected by
the operations of man.
And, in addition, much thought must be
bestowed. much judgment must be exercised
in. deciding 1,nnn the nrnc.ea manner In which |