^28 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



is concerned, seems to be the perpetuation of the species,— the 

 multiplication of itself. But in the wise economy of nature no 

 living thing exists for itself alone, and vegetation is the indispen- 

 sable forerunner and companion of animal existence. The air we 

 breathe, our food, our clothing, our timber, our fuel, our artificial 

 light, and the mechanical power of our domestic animals, and our 

 steam-engines, are all the more or less direct results of vegetable 

 growth. Now, liviug beings grow only by the digestion and 

 assimilation of food, and one of the first objects of inquiry for the 

 botanist is, " Upon what, and how do plants feed ?" They are 

 seen to flourish as epiphytes without any connection with water 

 or soil ; they thrive most luxuriantly in the briny ocean, and they 

 spring out of the earth as if that were the great storehouse of 

 their existence. The careful investigations of modern science 

 have explained these mysteries and taught us what it concerns 

 every botanist and every farmer to know, and what, thanks to 

 Professor Johnson, they may now readily learn, namely, "How 

 Crops Grow," and " How Crops Feed." We are also promised a 

 a volume, by the same learned author, upon " Tillage and Fertili- 

 zers," that we may understand how to apply our knowledge to 

 the production of the most profitable crops, as well as how to 

 improve and perpetuate the fertility of our soil. . 



We have thus alluded to a few facte of Structural and Physio- 

 logical Botany, to show what an immense and important field of 

 research is opened to the b'otanist without any regard to the 

 names of plants. Descriptive and Systematic Botany are, how- 

 ever, by no means to be neglected. The human mind naturally 

 associates together similar objects, and separates those which are 

 unlike. The classification of plants is, therefore, a necessity, and 

 greatly facilitates the study and comprehension of the vegetable 

 kingdom. Various systems of classification have been suggested, 

 most of them of a very artificial character and so quite unsatis- 

 factory. Dioscorides, for example, in the first century of our era, 

 names the six hundred species he describes under the following 

 four divisions, viz : Aromatic, Alimentary, Vinous and Medicinal 

 Plants. Linnscus made twenty-four classes, based upon the 

 organs of fructification. This system was remarkably simple and 

 complete, and rendered it very easy for beginners to learn the 

 names of plants, though often associating together those which 

 were very unlike. In more recent times, the so-called natural 

 system has been adopted, the plan of which is to bring together 



