The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1895-11-13


SOuthdOwns, and the horses Of Ken
lucky? Those individual experiment.
ers, who were men of vast native
sense, and moved by a magnificent
enterprise aud enthusiasm. As boy,
in England, one of IHy greatest de-
lights was to go with my father 70 the
annual sales of the Booth and Bates
ShOrthOrns, and of Oxford and Shrop-
shiredOwn sheep. And when l heard
the auctiOneer knocking down" the
sales To- purchasers from Germany,
New England and Japan, | wondered
who could be 20 great as the founders
OF those breeds which were being dis
tributed throughout most OF the cOun-
tries OF the glODe.
Yes. those Individual experimenters
were the men who brought down the
work and triumphs of agriculture 10
the time TO which We belong; and IL
was they who laid the foundations
upon which the present advancement
rests.
Yet, sir, we are conscious that We
are moving on. The conditions Of the
previous generation are not the cOndi-
tions of today. The modes Of inquiry,
the need and kinds of knowledge are
different, and are becoming much
more specific. We must know what
our predecessors knew, but we need
anu LIlurL htlO" ulOIt. II - Llll- " llCn
is additional with our time which
constitutes the difference from the
past.
III it were required To use one term
TO signify the difference from the
past, and the specific character Of the
present it is the word LdLOTntOTY.
And that term is the synonym Of ex-
peTimentatiOn aud inquiry. Now the
RECOMMENDATIONS conducted and the
triumphs achieved by the agricultural
leaders IN the past were such As We're
suggested by general observation, and
whose results We're adjudged by the
collective agreement of men, gradual
ly the more advanced OF those leaders
began TO question the accuracy Of the
general judgment. More than that,
they challenged the actual appear
ance OF things. \ certain breed gave
the largest yield of milk; but was tnat
real proof that that breed furnished
more than another Of the actual nutri-
ments essential in food? a particular
variety of wheat gave more bushels
per acre; but did that variety "cut as
much four to the bushel, and wa-
the -four of equal nutriment to that Of
other brands?
AT that time other vital circum-
stances were pressing the minds of
men and causing them To inquire for
new aids in their situation. Many of
the lands, particularly in the old
countries, were becoming exhausted
by unceasing cropping; the natural
fertilizers made on the farms We're not
enough to maintain fertility, and
yields were getting less. AT that
juncture men began to look about for .
special means in growing crops. Mer- /
chants and spectators Tansacked the /
uttermOst parts of the earth, aud .
finally were discovered the nitrates of
Chilli and the guanO of Peru. Not .
only did these artificial aids TO crop
ping cause a renewal of enterprise
through the domain of agriculture,
but a specific inquiry began concern
ing the actual elements of plant nutri-
ton contained in all fertiliZing
agents. AS result of such inquiry ii
was found that the active principle in
the artificial fertilizers and those of
the farm yard were essentially the
same That discovery initiated an
agricultural epoch. Land owners
fOresaw the refrigeration of exhausted
lands, aud farmers were to grow III
whatever they believed. LOLdon
would never want for strawberries
and cauliflowers with these aids from
Peru, aud the phOsphates Of Carolina
should replenish Berlin.
New difficulties, however, came
with the new boom. Agriculturists
found that they did not know the
of these new materials,
and that they were in the hands Of
men VINO could supply them with
fertilizers having a full cash value, or
who could palm off materials with no
value at all. However, il was not
only in the matter of what the farmer
had To- buy, but likewise in what he
offered for sale that new perpleXities
arose which challenged the very
Of values; but the great
truth was, and the leading men were
to see it, the face value of ma
terials could no longer be accepted.
Not OILY the farmer in what he had
To buy, but the consumer in what the
farm offered for sale, were demanding
tests and securities which nothing but
the laboratory could provide.
A new phase in agricultural devel-
opment was here created. Something
had to be done, but what could the
farmer do? He was competent in all
the practical demands which the farm
made upon his Intelligence and eXpe-
rience. This new demand, however,
was beyond his competence. He
knew how TO plough his land; when
to plant his crops. He could plant
cane aud cotton raise cattle and swine,
and maintain his home and fences
like gentleman; hut, without GER
tain specific knowledge, and without
a laboratory, he could not gauge the
nitrogen and phosporic acid present
in the fertilizers he had to buy, nor
estimate the albuminoids, the fats
and the carbohydrates in the foods he
offered for sale. At this juncture the
practical agriculturist stood still and
thought; and having thought, he con-
GUIDED that the bounds of his Indivi-
dual and uuaided inquiry and expert
had been reached.
But, Mr.. President, the agricul-
Lurist did not stand still long. In
some of the old countries, as we'll as
in America, private individuals insti-
.uted laboratories and experiments
ion for themselves. The small farmer
could not do that. He could not keep
IN expert to test his fertilizers and
eed Stuffs, and TO determine the fats
md aIpup1iuOiIl in his milk And