THE FARMERS' CxiBINET, 



AND 



AMERICAN HERD-BOOK, 



DEVOTED TO 



AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, AND RURAL AND DOMESTIC AFFAIRS. 



' The Productions of the Earth will always be in proportion to the culture bestowed upon it.' 



Vol. VI — No. 12.] 



7th mo. (July,) 15th, 1842. 



[Whole No. 89. 



JOSIAH TATUM, 



PROPRIETOR AND PUBLISHER, 



No. 50 North Fourth Street, 



PHILADELPHIA. 

 Price one dollar per year. — For conditions see last page. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Review 



Of " A Popular Treatise on Agricultural 



Chemistry. Far the Use of the Practical 



Farmer. — By Charles Squarey." 12ino. pp 



156. Price 62icts. Lea cj- Blanchard. 1842. 



The author of this little book does not pre- 

 tend to have orifjinated any views concerning 

 his subject. He has merely endeavoured to 

 throvi? into a convenient form the facts and 

 tlieories presented in the works of Davy, 

 Liebig, Daubeny and others, and to place the 

 necessary information within the reach of the 

 class to whom it is most necessary — we allude 

 to the agriculturists. In this he has suc- 

 ceeded. Much information is here compress- 

 ed into a small space, and it is, we t'link, ju- 

 diciously presented, in the most elementary 

 manner, to suit those whose attention has 

 never been called to this subject. But per- 

 haps it would be best to quote his own obser- 

 vations in relation to his object. 



" In the following pages it is intended to 

 explain, as far as our knowledge already ex- 

 tends, the manner in which plants assimilate 

 their food, and the sources of its supply. To 

 do this, some preliminary knowledge is ne- 

 cessary ; it is therefore proposed to consider 

 the subjects in the following order: First. — 

 The structure and functions of different parts 

 of plants. Second. — The general attributes 

 of the soil. Third. — The simple bodies form- 

 ing the structure of the plant, the sources from 

 which they are obtained, and the manner in 

 which they are assimilated. And lastly. — 

 The specification of the various manures now 

 in use. In considering these subjects, it will be 

 assumed that the reader has no previous know- 

 ledge of the question. No apology is there- 

 fore offered for the elementary character 

 which each chapter will exhibit. It has been 

 the desire of the writer to explain every cir- 

 cumstance as fully as possible, and although 

 the use of technical terms is necessarily un- 



Cab.— Vol. VI.— No. 12. 



avoidable in such a work, still a moderate 

 degree of attention will overcome all difficul- 

 ties, and, it is hoped, that the information af- 

 forded, is of such a kind, that no one will re- 

 gret the trifling efforts it may have cost him 

 to overcome them." 



We aie pleased with Mr. Squarey's views 

 in regard to the estimation in which chemis- 

 try, as applied to agriculture, has been too 

 generally held : he remarks, " Until a very 

 recent period the consideration of this subject 

 has been too generally deemed, if not alto- 

 gether beyond the range of the agriculturist, 

 at all events, as so distantly connected with 

 him, as to be of little direct importance. And 

 although at various periods men, eminent for 

 their talents, and for the successful application 

 of those talents to agriculture, have called 

 the attention of the public to this subject, 

 their endeavours have too often been of little 

 avail, and the application of science to agri- 

 culture has been almost entirely neglected. 

 Now, however, we date from a new era. A 

 variety of circumstances have of late com- 

 bined, to compel a greater attention on the 

 part of all classes to this most important stu- 

 dy : and the result is, that agriculture as a 

 science has advanced with rapid strides, from 

 darkness to comparative light ; and from being 

 the occupation of the lowest class in society, 

 to one that is regarded, and justly so, as af- 

 fording a field for the employment of the 

 highest intellect ; and happily also, one in 

 which the greatest exertions may be most 

 beneficially employed." 



After describing those points in the struc- 

 ture of plants, which have a reference to his 

 subject, our author proceeds to the considera- 

 tion of the soil. He briefly enumerates the 

 different varieties which it presents, and the 

 general action produced upon it by the culti- 

 vation of vegetable substances. He next 

 takes up the subject of the assimilation of 

 matter by plants. In this chapter he de- 

 scribes the principal substances which enter 

 into their composition, and which must there- 

 fore be abundantly supplied them, in order 

 that they may thrive. These he considers 

 as four, viz., carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and 

 oxygen. He describes more at length their 

 action on vegetable life, and the manner in 

 which they should be applied to the plant. 

 The next chapter considers the solid earthy 



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