116 f AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
sue these researches, it should distribute among its correspondents an 
analogous catalogue, comprising as far as possible the same American 
species, or thése which approach nearest to European species, in order 
to preserve a uniformity of method and study upon the two continents. 
There should be on the same page blank columns, with the indications 
of the periods of foliation, flowering, fructification, and defoliation, where 
the date of their appearance may be marked. Another column should 
be provided for the various remarks which may be made. These pages, 
once filled, should be returned to the Department of Agriculture, to be 
discussed by the division of meteorology, and then the conclusions and 
charts here specified should be sent to correspondents and farmers for ~ 
their proper instruction, and for applicatioy to agriculture. 
2. The creation of a network of meteoro-telegraphic observations, es- 
pecially applied to cultivation, under the direction .of the Department 
of Agriculture. 
The Government has just established a chain of stations, under 
the direction of the War Department, for the purpose of predicting 
- to mariners, by the aid of the telegraph, the arrival of tempests on 
the coasts and lakes. In 1849 the Smithsonian Institution, under the 
charge of the secretary, Professor Joseph Henry, established a network 
of observations for the study of the climate of the United States. These 
two series of observations have not had, and cannot have to-day, more 
than a partial and indirect application to agriculture. Thé reason is 
very simple. It is because, as shown in my first report, the observa- 
tions and the meteorological tables must be made and discussed in a 
manner very different when it is necessary to apply them to agriculture. 
The question is, to determine exactly the swm of heat, moisture, light, 
electricity, &c., that each species of plant requires for germination, folia- 
tion, flowering, fructification, &c.; in a word, for living in the best 
hygienic condition, and producing the greatest possible yield. The pro- 
cess to be pursued is as follows: We note the day and hour at which 
we sow the grain, concurrently with the reigning temperature; this we 
continue to note until we perceive the first symptoms of vegetable life, 
as soon as the radicules appear and the p!umulesrise. Then, by adding 
all the degrees of temperature observed in the first period, and by 
elevating this amount to the square, we obtain as exactly as possible, 
according to the number and exactitude of the observations, the accurate 
degree of temperature that each grain requires for germination. We 
proceed in the same manner in the interval between germination and 
foliation, from that to flowering, afterward to fructification, and finally 
to the leaf-fall, or the invernal sleep of the plant. 
If we repeat the same observations in regard to dampness, light, and 
other atmospheric agents which powerfully affect vegetable organiza- 
tion, we shall obtain all the conditions necessary to scientific cultivation 
and the greatest production. Why? Because when some function of 
the plant becomes paralyzed by the failure of something of which we are 
now ignorant, we shall know that it requires greater or less degrees of 
heat, moisture, &c. Instead of proceeding blindfold, as heretofore, 
instead of throwing away time and money in disappointing trials, we 
shall advance, guided by the light of science, and, so to speak, almost 
mathematically. This is the difference between cultivation according 
to routine and according to science. 
It will be only after this preliminary study that the network of the 
Smithsonian Institution, which gives the climatic conditions of different 
localities, will be very useful to agriculturists when they wish te establish 
or transport their productions. Having already acquired a knowledge 
