AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 134, 26 December 1885, Page 2

AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY.

This gentleman addressed ah atidiencd of farm e i s ami others in the Udd/f Hows' Hall, Canribridge, dn Friday evening 18th inst. The auMience wad very representative; many having dome lori£ distances, bat it wad not so large as the great importance df the 1 lecture warranted. Major Jackson was called td the" chain The chairman introduced the 1 visitor in A few appropriate remarks, and felt confident that those Who' had come 1 to hear this gentleman would go away 1 with a fiirid of knowledge and information which, he had no doubt, tKejf would, after the* manner of Waikato" farmers^ ttirn to practical accdttttt. Professor Black, who, on rising, was rdceive'd with applause, said he had had the good fortune to meet Mr" McNicol when at Te Aroha, and that gentleman had thoughtfully suggested to him that a lecture, say, on agricultural chemistry, would be very acceptable to Waikato farmers, who were ever de-» sirous of improving their knowledge oil matters concerning the composition and producing capabilities df the soil. That there should be an Agricultural College for Auckland as there was fdt Canterbury with a proper teaching staff, the 1 ddties of which were to conduct classes and instruct farmers in the science of agriculture, taking up siich subjects as the various kiiids of soil,- and thtf various kinds of crops adapted to the different; soils, and, also; the kind of mineral matters which the vaiious crops remote from the earth, ought to be recognised. If they grew a crop of whe^t^ior' example, they wdttld require >o replace in the soil that substance, which you take* from it,- or the wheat would no longer" grow. The matter" of feeding stuffs Was also discussed'' at the Canterbury College, and,.Au(ikland was frilly entitled td an institution of that sdrt, whete farmer.s'could send their sous to ber educated in matters of agriculture \H 4 "scientific way. A scientific krtoiHeelgd alone would not nfake a farmer ; perhaps* the most scientific' man might make the 1 worst farmer. Ifar did; practical know* ledge alono make the best farmer. Both a scientific and a practical knowledge* were necessary, to be a good farmer, and Both should be combined in the one person. As to the mineral food of plants,, plants require two kinds oosf s ' minerals' which the soil must furnish ; also, at*