S34 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



there is a great amount of most valuable inlbrma- 

 lion respeciiny thecoiiipuralive value of ihediti'er- 

 ent grasses; amongst others the Phleiuii prate use 

 IS meritioned, and the common name which it 

 bears in England given, viz : Meadow cal's-tail 

 grass. The only grass called cat's-taii grass in 

 this country is a coarse grass, utterly worthless as 

 food tor cattle, and as dill'erent ti-otii (lie grass in- 

 tended in the pa|)er reltirred to as any two grasses 

 can be. Tiie Pklcampralense is the grass called 

 timothy in some parts ol' the country, and herds- 

 grass in others ; lor it is a liict of which all may 

 not be aware, that the names timothy and herds- 

 grass are applied interchangeably, m dillerent 

 partsof this country, to two very ditierent grasses ; 

 that which is called timothy in one part, being 

 called herds-grass in another, and that wtiich is 

 called herds-grass in the lormer is called timothy 

 in the latter. In this casp, dependence on the 

 common name would necessarily have led the 

 reader into error. In this paper the scientific 

 names are given ; but without a knowledge of 

 systematic botany, it must remain a sealed book 

 to any reader; and yet from a mere inspection of 

 it any one can see that it contains the very kind ol' 

 information respecting grasses which the larmer 

 most needs. Should writers on agricultural sub- 

 jects make use of common names, in very many 

 instances their communications will be of no value 

 out of the immediate section of country in which 

 they reside; should they use the scientilic names, 

 it must be conliissed, that at present the case 

 would not be much better; but then the difficulty 

 which here presents ilselli is one which can be 

 easily removed. Let larmers become lamiiiar 

 with these scientific names, and they then are m 

 possession oi" the common language used by 

 writers among every civilized people on earth. 



The object of vegetable, physiulogy is to ex- 

 plain the structure and vital action of plants. 

 Plants may be regarded as a class of curious 

 machines, by which the common elements of 

 nature are worked up into organized Ibrms, and 

 thus fitted for the sustenance of human lilti. The 

 object ol" vegetable physiology is to lay open their 

 structure lor insjjection, and to explain their man- 

 ner of operation. If plants were susceptible of no 

 changes— did they remain the same, and thrive 

 equally well in all climates, in all soils and under 

 every system of cultivation — a full understanding 

 of their structure and manner of growth would be 

 of no practical value to the liinner. He would 

 then receive a certain return lor his labor and 

 that return would be the same whatever course 

 he might pursue. Eut such is not the lact. To 

 be satisfied that great changes, and changes too 

 which materially afiect their value may be pro- 

 duced in jilants, by careful cukivalioii, nothing 

 more is necessary than to comjjare any lour fine 

 large species of apjjle, with the wild crab, the stuck 

 (rom which it originally sjHaiig. Indeed, some ol' 

 the plants in common cultivation have been so 

 completely metamorphosed, have been so much 

 improved by long continued and judicious culture, 

 that it is impossible to tell with certainty what they 

 originally were. That every plant w'ill improve 

 under a judicious system of culture, anddeicriorate 

 under an injudicious one, the fields oi' the thrifty 

 and of the unthrifty larmer in every jjart of the 

 country abundantly testily. Then, too. plants are 

 subject to diseases, arising Irum the infiuonce ol 



the atmosphere, from the stings of insects and 

 from many other causes. We all admit the im- 

 portance of a knowledge of the anatomy and phy- 

 siology of the human body to the physician ; may 

 we not fairly conclude, Irom analogy, that a si- 

 milar knowledge, respecting plants, would be of 

 service to the farmer ? 



Although plants are subject to many changes, 

 from the influence of soils, climates, and the arts 

 of men, yet these changes always take place in 

 accordance with certain fixed and invariahle laws. 

 The object of the Vegetable Physiologist is, by 

 careful observation and oft-repeated experiments, 

 to learn these laws, in order that acting in accor- 

 dance with them, man may render the vegetable 

 kingdom subject to his control. Lord Bacon has 

 remarked that " knowledge is power." This is 

 true in a pecular manner of natural science, for it 

 is only by acting in accordance with the laws of 

 nature, that we can render it subservient to our 

 will. 



It may seem strange, but it is no more strange 

 than true, that many of the commonly received 

 o[)inio.is respecting the growth of plants, are 

 directly at variance with truth ; and as a matter of 

 course, the practices based upon th ise opinions, 

 are any thing else than the proper ones. To 

 mention a single instance. It is the common 

 belief that the sap circulates through the trunks 

 oftrees during the spring and summer, whilst it 

 retires into the root during the winter ; and us the 

 dry-rot is believed to arise from the presence of 

 sap in timber, the common practice is, to cut tim- 

 ber which it is desired shall last long in mid-win- 

 ter. This opinion respecting the situation of the 

 sap at difierent seasons of the year is altogether 

 erroneous, as any one may convince himself by 

 the Ibllowing simple experiment. Let a young 

 oak sapling be cut in the winter, and laid ujion the 

 fire. As soon as it becomes thoioughly heated, 

 the steam will rush out at each end of the stick, 

 from the heart wood, whilst the sap- wood will 

 remain dry ; let a similar stick be cut in the sum- 

 mer and treated in the same manner, the steam 

 will then be Ibuiid to issue from the sap-wood, 

 whilst the heart-wood will remain dry ; thus 

 showing, that during the winter months, the heart- 

 wood is the principal depository of the sap, whilst 

 during the summer months, it circulates almost 

 exclusively through the sap-wood. The common 

 opinion, that the presence of sap is the immediate 

 cause of the dry-rot in timber, is doubtless a cor- 

 rect one ; but the very correctness of this opinion 

 leads to an error in practice, when coupled with an 

 incorrect opinion respecting the situation of the 

 sap. The proper |>ractice would be, to cut tim- 

 ber during the summer, and not during the winter 

 months. 



A lourth department of natural science, which 

 may very properly be included in a course of agri- 

 cultural education, is mechanical philosophy, em- 

 bracing the laws of Ibrce and motion, as they ap- 

 ply in the case of solids, liquids, and gases. Me- 

 chanical philosophy has been defined as "that 

 science which teaches us how to produce the 

 greatest etlect with the smallest expense of power." 

 The |)rinLij)les of mechanics are involved in the 

 construction of ploughs, wagons, thrashing ma- 

 chines, and in lact in all the implements of lius- 

 bandry; and it is impossible that any one should lul- 

 ly understand the structure of 'hese instrumentSjthe 



