PREFACE. i x 



In passing under review the articles derived from the 

 vegetable kingdom that afford nutritive material, it was 

 found impossible to draw any broad line of distinction 

 between those that must remain fit exclusively for 

 human food and those that hereafter may possibly aug- 

 ment the supply of nutriment to the animals of the farm ; 

 hence, while the chief attention is paid to articles in 

 daily use, all the plants known to contain esculent 

 matter, as far as space would permit, are cursorily 

 noticed, without any attempt ft) estimate the probability 

 of this or that being added in future to the list of forage 

 plants. 



In the Third Part an attempt has been made to show 

 the theoretical grounds on which the agriculturist must 

 proceed in determining, from his knowledge of preceding 

 facts in physiology and chemistry, the kind and amount 

 of diet that will more or less probably be necessary 

 when special circumstances arise, as well as to satisfy 

 himself how far there is a harmony between established 

 usages of the farm in respect to animals and the precepts 

 of physiological and chemical science. The calculations 

 introduced into this Part are only correct in so far as the 

 chemical analysis of the several articles concerned is 

 already complete. The plan exhibited will suffice, how- 

 ever, to give exact results in proportion as the analyses 

 become more perfect. 



With respect to the share which each of the authors 

 has had in this work, it will be sufficient to say that 

 with Mr Stephens, as largely experienced in agriculture 

 and long apprised of the exact kinds of knowledge re- 



