CONTENTS. XI 



Presidency, the talent and energy of superintendents 

 being exclusively devoted to making them self-supporting. 

 The fallacy of this system. Experimental farms to be 

 considered remunerative only by the improvement they 

 effect in the agriculture of their districts. The inability 

 of Government to effect all these improvements single- 

 handed, and the necessity for the co-operation of an 

 AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY . 1 



CHAPTER I. 



THE PLANT. 



A knowledge of the nature of plants and their component 

 parts necessary to understand the Principles of Rational 

 Agriculture. The organic and inorganic parts of the 

 plant. Their origin. The conditions of plant life. The 

 seed in its relation to the plant. The cosmic conditions of 

 germination. The process of germination. Seeds will 

 germinate and produce miniature plants in water from 

 the store of nourishment they contain. The condition of 

 the young plant depends upon the quality of the seed. 

 The advantages of seed selection. Superior plants from 

 superior seed. The condition of the soil in relation to the 

 germinated seed. The delicate root-fibres prefer a loose, 

 porous soil. Cato's teachings on tillage are still the 

 foundation of agriculture. The roots are the medium 

 through which human skill can reach^ the plant. The 

 properties of the root. Its absorbing power. The rootlets 

 absorb from the soil the inorganic food of plants. The 

 stem the conveyor of the sap to the different parts of 

 the plant. Silica one of the chief inorganic constituents 

 of the stems of cereals and grasses. It forms the bones 

 of vegetable life. Leaves and their functions. The 

 exposure of the crude sap in the leaves to the influence of 

 light and atmospheric air, and the changes it undergoes. 

 The seed, and its connection with the plant. Selection 

 and change of seed. Seed and seed-sowing 22 



