440 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



carried forward wisely for a few years under an enthusiastic, 

 intelligent and indefatigable director, the entire project would eo 

 commend itself to the public that abundant means would be 

 furnished for needed improvements, while the annual income from 

 Bales would steadily increase with the increase of stock and repu- 

 tation. 



Many other subjects, which might legitimately be considered in 



1 this discussion, did time allow, must be entirely omitted, or receive 

 but a passing notice. For instance, the great pecuniary value of 

 even the slightest real advance in agriculture or horticulture, in 

 consequence of the enormous aggregate value of their products, 

 is worthy of notice. Thus an increase of only one per cent, in 

 the wheat crop of the United States would amount to 2,877,456 

 bushels. There can be no question that in many ways this might 

 be brought about. The use of the best variety of seed often does 

 much more than this in all crops. Hence the importance of ex- 

 perimental grounds for testing varieties of plants and modes of 



^culture. 



Again, the introduction of new fruits or crops often results in 

 untold good to a country. Thus the sugar-beet in France and 

 Germany has wonderfully improved the whole system of farming, 

 and vastly increased the wealth of these nations. In like manner 

 the fig, the orange and the olive are valuable acquisitions to Cali- 

 fornia. In 1839, a missionary transported from the splendid 

 garden of the Duke of Devonshire to the Navigator's Islands a 

 single banana plant, which increased rapidly, and now the people 

 are abundantly supplied with this agreeable and most nutritious 

 fruit. We might profitably consider the desirableness to the far- 

 mer of an acquaintance with the origin and characteristics of the 

 weeds he would exterminate and the crops he would produce ; the 

 importance of knowing what each cultivated plant takes from the 

 soil and what it requires for its best development; and the neces- 

 sity of understanding the relative value of the different grasses 

 and other kinds of fodder for his special purposes. 



The exceeding value of botanical knowledge to those who 

 attempt the cultivation of ornamental plants, either indoors or out, 

 both in enabling them" to select the best species for their peculiar 

 circumstances, and to obtain desired results, might easily be made 

 evident. There is now an immense waste of money, labor and 

 love in consequence of misdirected effort in floriculture. The 

 pleasures and profits to be derived from the intelligent cultivation 



