Elements of agricultural chemistry, in a course of lectures for the Board of Agriculture / By Sir Humphry Davy.

  • Davy, Humphry, Sir, 1778-1829.
Date:
1813
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Elements of agricultural chemistry, in a course of lectures for the Board of Agriculture / By Sir Humphry Davy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the philosophical basis of agriculture; but it is an important part, and whenever applied in a proper manner must produce advantages. In proportion as science advances all the principles become less complicated, and consequently more useful. And it is then that their application is most advantageously made to the arts. The common labourer can never be enlightened by the general doc- trines of philosophy, but he will not refuse to adopt any practice, of the utility of which he is fully convinced, because it has been founded upon these principles. The mariner can trust to the compass, though he may be wholly unacquainted with the dis- coveries of Gilbert on magnetism, or the refined principles of that science developed by the genius .of ^Tpinus. The dyer will use his bleaching liquor, even though he is perhaps ignorant not only of the constitution, but even of the name of the sub- stance on which its powers depend. The great purpose of chemical investigation in Agriculture, ought undoubtedly to be the discovery of improved methods of cultivation. But to this end, general scientific principles and practical knowledge, are alike necessary. The germs of discovery are often found in rational speculations; and industry is never so efficacious as when assisted by science. It is from the higher classes of the community, from the pro- prietors of land; those who are fitted by their education to form enlightened plans, and by their fortunes to carry such plans into execution; it is from these that the principles of improvement must flow to the labouring classes of the community; and in all