Cape Cod Pilot

In writing this account of the Rothamsted Experiments the sixty years work of two men, Lawes and Gilbert, whose names have become familiar in every part of the world where agriculture is something more than a matter of tradition and custom I am of necessity acting as an external demonstrator, describing from the outside, as it were, what seem to be the chief lessons conveyed by the experiments which I have now the honour to conduct. Lawes and Gilbert are dead, and with them passed away many observations of value and many notable generalisations which they had found no opportunity of giving to the world, nor had I the personal contact with either which would enable me to report even such portions of their experiences as might have been conveyed by conversation. But though these losses cannot be repaired, and though nothing can replace the instinctive knowledge that comes of having seen a thing grow year after year, yet the position of an outsider has some advantages, especially when drawing up an account which, like the present, is addressed to the general student of the subject. In the first place, the outsider approaches the consideration of each experiment without any of the prepossessions arising from too exclusive a recollection of the purpose with which the experiment was originally framed. Readers of the Rothamsted Memoirs will know how certain ideas, e.g., the source and function of the nitrogen in vegetation, occupied the minds of Lawes and Gilbert from the very beginning of their experiments until the end.
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)

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