Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1877-02-08
Science on the Farm.

THE mere mention of the word science
or scientist appears to be obnoxious to
many of our farmers, who CenOunce sci
entiflc agriculture as a veritable cheat
and a snare. Of course it is not to be
denied that there has heen, and is at the
present day, an immense amount of char
latanry among the self-styled scientific
agriculturists, but the same is true of all
other professions, or branches of science
and art. The medical profession, inn
portant as it is to the welfare of mankind,
is overburdened with quackery, but that
does not invalidate the claims of the
skillful physician and surgeon to honor
able recognition by the community. The
greatest obstacle to the advance of true
science in all the learned professions is
the crowding of legitimate channels with
charlatans, who stand in little fear of
punishment if discovered, so that the un-
learned or even imbecile frequently as
sumo titles to which they have no right.
But the farmer in a majority of in
stances has misunderstood the meaning
of the term science and scientific agri-
culture, believing it to be fomething far
beyond the comprehension of persons
who have not been specially trained in
school or college. Now, genuine science
at best is merely common sense and OBJ
servation combined, and all preparatory
studies are little more than good tools,
with which a man works out problems in
after years. OF course a mechanic can
not do as good work with a few or poor
tools as he can with plenty of the very
best, but he may still be scientific; the
same is true with the farmer, and the bet
ter his preparatory education the more
rapid Will be his progress; but because he
cannot go as deep in his investigations as
some others, it does not follow that no in
vestigations should be made.
The idea appears to have got abroad
that science in farming means chiefly the
analysis of soils and the food of ami
mails; this error, for it certainly is one,
originated from the investigations and
writings of such men as Boussengault,
Liebig, johnson, and contemporaneous
authors, whose life labors were mainly in
that direction, and were in many in
stances carried far beyond what was nee
essary for practical utility. It is not,
however, necessary for a man to be a
thorough chemist, geologist, botanist, or
a specialist in any one branch of science
to be scientific farmer. Good blowing
is scientific operation, producing both
mechanical and chemical results, there
being an abundant opportunity for the
display of high order of scientific in
telligence in the simple act of turning
over the soil. To ascertain just how deep
to pillow in order to procure the best re-
suits on every different kind of land re-
quires great amount of study, and many
carefully experiments. Then,
the blowing previous to putting in crop
is often followed by the stirring of the
soil among the plants, and the frequency,
depth, and best time for performing
the operation call for some very close cal
culations and investigations, which are
undoubtedly of scientific order.
In the feeding and care Of animals,
scientific investigations are constantly re-
quired, and although a farmer may not
be able to conduct various analyses in a
chemical laboratory and determine the
composition Of his timothy or clover hay,
and learn which is the richest food for his
stock, he can readily obtain the knowledge
sought by experiments in feeding the two
kinds separately, and noting the effect
necessary in these days of cheap books
and periodicals for a farmer to spend
much time in practical experiments of
this kind, for the value for food Of nearly
every known forage plant was long since
ascertained, and a man would be very
foolish to spend his time in repeating ex-
periments where no new discoveries are
likely to be made. The great want of the
day is not new discoveries in science per
tanning to agriculture, but the general
diffusion and application of what is al
ready known to a comparatively small
number There is not the least need of
any new forage plants or grain, but those
we already possess should become better
known among the tillers Of the soil, and
this can only be brought about by more
careful perusal of books and periodicals |
devoted to natural sciences.
Every farmer should know enough of
botany to enable him to distinguish the |
commonly cultivated grasses and other
plants from those growing wild in his IN |
cultivated lands. When he has learned |
this much, he will know the noxious spe |
cies from the useful, and enough of their
natural habits to enable him to more |
readily destroy the one and encourage the |
growth of the other, than if he remained |
in total ignorance of botanical science. |
The same is also true of entomology, for |
it requires no great amount of study to |
learn the difference between the common |
moths and butterflies, or to distinguish