Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-10-06

| " "H "''aPea1iolf 70 tlRe laws OF nature; and
wherever There is harmony in those laws, We
may expect success. Every farmer Is not
expected to be scientific man; but there i
not one OF ordinary intelligence who cannot
avail himself OF the research and experi-
ments Of those who are. There ispo pras-
! cribed formula by which judiciOus cuItnre
can in all cases be attained. A mere book
worm may become as. useless as a drone- hr
destructive as moth. Seiolists and smat-
terers are found in every calling; and in
this, may be given over, without hurt, to a
pOetical justice. But because patient NAV
die from the improper use of ealomel, adj
ministered by an empnic, shall we therefore
discard the use of all mineral medicine ,?
If blOOd-letting should prove fatal in a
single case, shall we renOunce altogether,
phlebOtOmy, and throw away the lancet (?
Should the excuses of Doctor SstngradO, As
hmnorously depicted in Gil Bias, defeat the
virtue Of the - Water cure" Because a mere
book-worm is impractical in his everyday
life, and adheres to his formula without re-
gard to exigencies which daily present them
selves; or because he may be be wanting in
industry and experience, and hence un-
thrifty, shall We ridiCulc the book from
which he reads? We might as well de-
houhce The Bible for containing that which
Sh0rt-slghted man cannot comprehend. and
because some Of its readers are wicked; or
declaln against the light of the sun be-
cause II has spots upon its face. We can
not, IN this day, join in a crusade against
books. They are the repository of science;
the I" caskets which contain the Jewels Of
the mind, wrought by genius in every ace;
yet, unlike other caskets, While thew Gather
in their priceless treasures, they likewise
distribute them" No one book contains
all the science which the art of agriculture
requires Its interests are so varied, and
demands so eXOrbitant, tina. they bring into
operation the whole circle Of sciences.
As botany is the science which treats of
plants, and plants are the products Of the
soil, might we not assume that agriculture
rested on botany, and that the indications of
vegetgble physiology are the chief guides of
the practical farmer? Let us not conclude
that the botanic circle is alone interesting 20
youthful lovers, who, while they locsk upon
HE IN It's delicate tints, converse in the 81
lent but sentimental language of flowers.
To the scientific mind it has other uses; and
discovers all the relations Of color and the
cause Of the same, from the "blood-red
rose" to the milk-white thorn" and teaches
that the neglected eglantine which swings
in wild and native grace about the hedges
and fences Of your highways and by-ways,
Is truly "the country cousin of the rose
notwithstanding that peculiar unsOcial quail
lty, rarely found in the hower-kingdOm, OF
fourishing most when let alone.
4 knowledge of mechanics and hydraulics
are as essential TO the farmer in their res
pectiye spheres of operation, as the seed he
soWs.
Geology, that most beautiful and interest
ing science, constituting, as it does, the
footprints Of creation which of late wears
has been unfolding its imprisoned truths to
the eye of science, until now, it assumes to
challenge with impunity the long received
opinion as to the age of the earth and its
mode OF creation,-can teach the farmer the
origin Of the soils he cultivateS; the cause
of the diversity they sometimes exhibit,
even in the same field; the base Oh which
they rest; the number of strata and their
invariable relation.
MeteOrOlogy, makes for the farmer, with
mathematical certainty, her tables, showing
the highest, the mean, and the lowest tenn
perature, as well as The quantity Of rain
that falls within any given time in each
year; and, as we, in the main, Judge the
future by the past, it furnishes knowledge
of immense utility 20 the farmer. Nor is
this all; for within a short period past,
the constant communication between
various localities by means of the post
boys Of thought, who ride on lightning's
wings, we are enabled 10 fOFetell change in
the atmosphere of our own homes BY the
rapidity and direction of the change in
other places, before the sensitive mercury
in our own barometers has given an indica-
ton Of rising or falling. The man of sci
ence now sits at our National Capitol, as
the head of our weather-bureau, and daily.
hourly, if need be-counts every respira-
ton of the lungs Of the COrdIilleras, and
gives back, in twinkling, to tine Pacific
slope, the pulse-beat of the historic Poto-
mae. Every CULVER Of the cyclones wing,
as, in its terrible swoop. it drives navies on
the strand, and lifts the druid oak from its
forest home, is made to tinele down the
sensitive. nerves Of our wire-wrOught frame
work, and tell of its coming. MrteorOlogv
prints IN our morning papers the shadows
of the passing clouds that obscures the mir
rOr Of the northern lakes, BY the side Of that
which burns on the southern
gulf. 1t transfers 10 our visions, through
the same medium, tie winter scenes Of /
frOst-wOrk and snowflake as they glisten
beneath g. the BOrealis race, that fits ere
you mark its place." and contrasts in the
same columns its poetic imagery with the
e lazy LaWrences " that simmer over the /
face of the Lone Star" in the midst Of
destructive drOUths. Through the science
Of engineering, he can give proper bounda-
ries to his lands; exact dimensions to his |
fields; can estimate to a fraction, the guam
tity Of water in his cistern or corn in his
crib, when the length and breadth and |
height Of each are given.
Of all the sciences within their circle, |
chemistry IS most attractive and useful to |
The farmer. 1t is the magic tombstone |
by which the elements Of earth and air. |
ire and water, and that which is vivified or
destroyed by their combination and ac- |
lion, may be resolved into constituents. |
Its office is as essential to successful |
vegetable growth, as the circulation Of |
he blood to animal life And as Har- !
Tey, by the discovery of the one, did much /
70 enable the skillful surgeon to diagnose |
disease, to determine its pathology and to /
alleviate suffering and prolOng life so Lei
u anu Dlt AAtuAlpilt lJdNNs DN AHfIttulu-
al Chemistry, gave a practical utility to the |
)ther, by demonstrating its marvellous eff
ectS, when properly called into requisition, /
% cure the sickly germ and stimulate to /
| fuller growth, the dwarf formation, and |
o ripper development, the baby plant Is /
t not the Office of chemistry to explain the
process Of vegetable life in every stage of /
IS existence and to demonstrate the cause |
Is well as the result of decay and death? |
L is on this science that agriculture de-
Jends for its highest achievements. Other 4
sciences are valuable auXiliaries in conduct
ne it along the path of prosperity, but
chemistry IS Indispensable to that vast de- I
-elOpment which necessity and interest have
marked out for it. Ignorance and preju-
lice may have warred against their union,
strife and bitterness; vet, az
icIdture and chemistry are inseparably
United. Their bands are those which ma
ure created; their marriage is not a con-
ract to be broken at the will Of the parties;
mt a sacrament which is inyiOlable; and, at
he ministratiOn of which, the Great Spirit
resides at the altar. Chemistry disclOses
he composition of soils the composition of
he atmosphere; the nutriment on which
ii vegetable matter must feed, whether
Tawn from the earth or air. 1t teaches
he causes of the exhaustion of soils; the
means of restoration; when Nature will
upply deficiencies; and when and how
aan must do it for her.
The art of agriculture is a chemical art,