Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-01-07
AGRICULTURAL PAPERS.
A SERIES PREPARED EXPRESSLY FOR
THE RscoKD-UNIos.
Presenting the instruction Contained in
Lectures from the Chair of Agri-
culture in the State
University.
FIRST PAPER = AGRICULTURE AND AGRI-
CULTURAL CHEMISTRY.

FIRST PAPER - AGRICULTURE AND AGRI-
CULTURAL CHEMISTRY.
The object of the agriculturist is to pro
duce the plants and animals which are nee
essary to the existence of the human race
The first aim is the production of the varie-
ties of plants suitable to the maintenance
of animal life. The more advanced in civ.
ilization nation is, the less crude do we
find the tools and products of the agricultu-
rists. In the tropics, owing to the great
number of varieties of plants capable of sus-
tanning life, and to the almost spontaneous
growth of vegetation, the natives are under
no difficulties in getting sustenance, and
here we find the least development of civil
ization. As we advance toward the tenn
perate regions we fud more energetic
class OF people with higher grade of civil.
ization, which brings with it the need OF
more of the necessities of life, entailing
upon the tillers of the soil a higher grade Of
cultivation and more systematic methods of
husbandry; as a result of which we have
the art of agriculture as it is now practiced
in all civilized countries. The art of agri-
culture has grown out of the observation
and imitation of the best works of nature,
and not few practical results have
been arrived at by chance. In the words
of Prof. johnson, Of Yale College, "the
science OF agriculture is the rational theory
and the exposition of the successful art f"
He says, ''strictly considered, tae art and
science of agriculture are of equal age,
and have grown together from the earliest
times. Those who first cultivated the soil
by digging, planting, manuring and irriga-
ton had their sufficient reasons for every
step. In all cases thought goes before
work, and the intelligent workman has a
theory on which his work was planned
No farm was ever conducted without phys
iology, chemistry and physics, any more
than an aqueduct or railway was ever built
without mathematics or mechanics. Every
successful farmer is to some extent scien-
tlfic man. Let him throw away the knowl-
edge of facts and the knowledge of princi-
pies which constitute his science and he has
lost the elements of his success. The
farmer without his reasons, his theory, his
science, can have no plan, and these want
ing, agriculture would be as complete a
failure with him as it would be with
a man of mere science, destitute of
manual, financial and executive skill.
Other qualifications being equal, the more
advanced and complete the theory of which
the farmer is master, the more successful
must be his farming. The more he knows,
the more he can do. The more deeply,
comprehensively and clearly he can think,
the more economically and advantageously
can he work" The truth and application
of the above is so evident that it needs no
philosopher to comprehend it, What the
country needs is good, intelligent farmers,
who understand the principles of the phe-
nomenon of plant life and growth, and who
are able so to use their knowledge as to in
crease the quantity and quality of the pro-
ducts of the soil, and at the same time to
maintain the soil in its primitive richness,
to be permanent inheritance to the COM
ing generations. The coming farmer must
be man capable of making use of the ad-
vances made in the art of agriculture, and
which he can take advantage of by bein g
well informed as to the results of the agri.
cultural practices in different parts of the
country and under different circumstances
than those surrounding him, and, more
over, his mind must be of such caliber
as to enable him to generalize and to arrive
at the proper conclusion regarding those
results, when the causes are modified by
the surrounding conditions of his section
of the country. He must be man of good
common sense, with fair unders landing
OF the principles of political economy, SO
that if he should be called to the legisla-
tors chair, his influence would tend to Sc
cure such legislation as would be to the
lasting benefit of his constituents. The
agriculturlsts of California have got a
reputation for lack of economy in their
farming, and it must be confessed that, by
the majority of farmers here, little is done
toward retaining the land in a fruitful
condition. The lack OF proper care in this
respect is in some parts of the State becom-
ing evident to an alarming extent. Many
farmers have successfully cropped their
land to the same product year after year,
until as natural consequence, the soil has
been exhausted of the properties needful for
the nourishment of that particular product,
and it fails to remunerate the farmer for his
labor. He as a general thing says the land
is Sc worn out, and, if possible, goes to work
on a new piece of ground, leaving this to
recover its productIveness by lying idle.
Now if this farmer had known something
of agricultural chemistry, or had had any
knowledge Of the principle of the rotation
of crops, he need not have lost the use OF
his land. Plants, as well as animals, must
be considered as individuals, for they have
their own functional organs, and are, ex-
oept in the case of parasites, independent
of each other. Just as the animal needs a
particular kind of food to sustain life, so
does the plant also. Why should not the
farmer know what character OF soil is
adapted to the different varieties of plants,
as well as to know what particular plants
are adapted to his wants Animal life is
dependent on plant life, but the reverse is
not equally true. Animal life is sustained
by the consumption of plants and their
products during this consumption carbonic
acid and ammonia gas are given off. These
both are essential to the life and growth OF
plants, but the natural production of these
two gases other than by the respiration and
excrements of animals is so great that it
would be an extremely long time before
the vegetable kingdom would suffer from
the absence of animal life.
1t is necessary, before going further, for
us to understand the difference between
natural and agricultural products. Ma
tural products are the productions of I'M
aided nature, and are consumed by animals
on the spot, or else mature, die and decay,
and return to the soil from whence they
came. In either case the fertility and sub
stance of the soil has not been impaired,
but is constantly increased by that amount
Of matter assimilated from the atmosphere
which is transferred to the soil in the ash.
Agricultural products are those which are
derived from the soil by the practice of
agriculture, and are to greater or less
extent removed from the vicinity in which
they were grown. The sgriculturist sup.
plements the efforts OF nature by his knowl-
edge. experience and labor. and is depend
emit on the products OF the soil to furnish
him with the necessities AMI Injuries OF
life. Soils under tillage are subject to a
constant drain on their substance, and I'M.
less the farmer pays proper attention to the
maintenance of the fertility of the soil it
must sooner or later be exhausted.
1t is only comparatively recently that
any attention has been paid to the
use of fertilizers. In olden times the
practices of the tillers of the soil in the
valley of the Nile formed the example
from which all other surrounding nations