VIII. — On the Maturation of Grain and 

 Farming Produce, so as to he most henejicial 

 to the Cultivator. By John Just, Esq. 



Read August 10th, 1847. 



Every building is designed for some use ; has 

 some special purpose to serve in human economy. 

 Just so, every vegetable production has certain 

 ends to answer in the economy of nature, for 

 which its whole structure was designedly reared, 

 and the plant itself primarily intended. One 

 main end of a plant's existence is fructification — 

 or the bearing of fruit, and the maturation of the 

 seed. And, since fruits and seeds, with such 

 parts and organs of plants as serve to prepare 

 material for them both, constitute a considerable 

 portion of the food of man, and the whole food 

 of such animals as man has taken under his care 

 for domestication, and sundry services, a know- 

 ledge of the formation and physiology of the 

 fructifying organs, functions, and requirements 

 of plants, may be considered as the ultimatum of 

 Qq 



