NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. O 



the modes by which they should be treated. Soils too, being 

 derived from rocks of different periods and constitutions, in 

 fluence their composition and capabilities more or less. Close 

 observation relative to those influences frequently establish 

 important generalizations; and hence, geology may be re 

 garded as a department very intimately connected with agri 

 culture, and whose principles are capable of advancing its 

 interests. 



It is scarcely necessary to refer to botany, as an allied 

 branch of science. A practical knowledge of soils may be 

 derived from it. Nature rarely errs in collocation. Plants, 

 without selecting soils in truth, do really flourish best on cer 

 tain tracts whose soil is found to be adapted to their special 

 wants. Some are lime, others are potash plants ; and hence, 

 the farmer may be satisfied where certain plants abound, that 

 certain important constituents of soils are present. 



Animals, however, form a large part of his care and over 

 sight. Often his chief wealth consists in cattle. The rearing 

 of stock of favorite breeds, their improvement in general, and 

 often in special points, demands a knowledge of physiology 

 and anatomy. There is property in a knowledge of the foot 

 of the horse, the joints of the bullock and the structure of the 

 hoof. There is property in a knowledge of the skull and the 

 physiognomy of the horse and the kine ; and there is pro 

 perty in the knowledge of habits and best food for cattle and 

 flocks, and in the organization of the stomach and its depen 

 dencies. 



The farmer and planter, therefore, may say that they have 

 not only property in lands and in cattle, but also in the phe 

 nomena of nature, as they may make those phenomena sub 

 servient to their interests; the sunbeam and shade add 

 golden dust to their stores, when seed times and tillage are 

 chosen under the guidance of philosophy. 



4. While agriculture in all its aspects presents a wide 

 field for investigation, it still has very clearly such subdivi 

 sions of labor, that in practice, it may reach a high degree of 

 perfection. We find, for example, that climate frequently 

 restricts the most profitable productions to one or two staples. 



