AMERICAN HOME GARDEN. 503 



raised upon an acre, yet it is quite possible to obtain this quan- 

 tity ; but upon the land that would produce it, twice, or even 

 thrice the weight of corn and stalks named in the table might 

 be raised, and harvested at less than half the risk and labor. 

 I have purposely made the average of corn and stalks very 

 low, because of my entire conviction of the immense superiority 

 of the corn crop over all root crops in our climate. The aver- 

 age of corn in the table must at least be doubled to make the 

 comparison a fair one with the last six articles. I have en- 

 deavored so to arrange the percentages adopted that any one 

 can with ease calculate the value of a larger or smaller product 

 per acre of any crop given. 



Divisions 2 and 3, Water and Vegetable Fibre, represent 

 constituents of the crop which in ordinary cases simply add to 

 its bulk. As vehicles of food, or mingled with it, their mere 

 bulk aids digestion, and thereby promotes health, while they 

 may also, in extreme cases, become, to a certain extent, available 

 as nutriment. 



Divisions 4, 5j 6, and 7 (omitting the silica in the latter) 

 contain the materials by which, in combination with water, all 

 animal bodies are framed, covered with muscle and fat, sup- 

 ported in growth, their waste resupplied, and warmth and 

 vigor given to them. The aggregate of the items in these col- 

 umns indicates the true value of any crop we raise. Milk, 

 which is the only complete and perfect animal food, contains 

 them all (with the omission noted), mixed with more or less of 

 water, and in proportions analogous to those of the general 

 crops in our table, the wants of the animal economy requiring 

 larger supplies for respiration and fattening than for muscle 

 and bone. No one of them, however, could be dispensed with 

 or ignored. With No. 7 the bones might be formed, and by 

 the aid of No. 6 be bound in their places and work, as puppets 

 are worked with cords, but must remain angular, and cold, and 

 of themselves motionless, unless the supplies from Nos. 4 and 

 5 lay a* lining of soft cellulose matter beneath the skin, round 

 the general outlines of the limbs and body, lubricate the joints, 

 and feed with appropriate fuel the vital furnace in the lungs. 



The variations in the percentages of the several constituents 



