THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



PART FIFTH. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



THE STRUCTURE AND GROWTH OF PLANTS. 



Having considered the nature of the various elements 

 which enter into the structure of plants, ani their relations 

 to vegetable growth, the nature of the soil, its formation, 

 composition, and its relation to the growth of crops, with 

 the various methods by which it may be improved and better 

 fitted for the purposes of cultivation, it remains now to con- 

 sider the nature of vegetable life and growth, and how these 

 are dependent upon the labors and intelligent skill of the 

 farmer for their full and profitable development. 



In considering this part of our subject as it relates to the 

 culture of farm crops, we are brought face to face with the 

 great mystery which lies beyond the reach of the most acute 

 mental power; which defies every effort of human intelli- 

 gence to understand or explain; and eludes the grasp of the 

 most profound philosophy. This impenetrable mystery is 

 Life. However this is viewed, it is a transcendent miracle. 

 Its mere consideration throws us back- upon our own power- 

 lessness to reach even a comprehension of what it is. We 

 can perceive the approaches to it; the chemical operations 

 by which it is made possible and which start its develop- 

 ment; but as one might look over a road crossing a rounded 

 hill in front of him, and the way appears plain until the 

 crest is reached, and then the sight plunges into infinity, 

 and finds no resting place in the ethereal blue beyond its 

 scope; so the mind follows all the various changes and pro- 

 cesses which precede the bursting of a germ into active life, 

 and recognizes the relations of these to certain natural laws, 

 and to known forces, but the nature of the vital power which 



