THE FARMERS' CABINET 



DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, AND RURAL ECONOMY. 



Vol. UI.-No. O. I 



Jftnunry 15, 1839. 



IWhole No. 48. 



Communicated for the Fanner's Cabinet. 



General RcmarUs— Vei;ctal>les— Foot! of 



Plants. 



KO. I. 



Eelicvingr, ns I do, that it is the duty of 

 every member of society to contrihute as 

 much as iie can towards the promotion of the 

 comfort and prosperity of the community, T 

 have taken the liberty of submittinof a few 

 desultory remarks on the subject of agricul- 

 ture, chiefly fiom a hope that it may elicit 

 from others better qualified to contribute to 

 the common fimd of useful information. 



When we contemplate the period of the 

 tran.^g^ression of man, that Adam was driven 

 from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground 

 from which he was taken, and that Cain, the 

 first born of man, was a tiller of the ground. 

 we are struck with astonishment to find that 

 so little has been done in the cultivation of 

 correct knowledge in Agriculture, that it can 

 scarcely be considered as a science. The 

 most that we can boast of, is a few insulated 

 facts, many of them contradictory and en- 

 tirely destitute of rational grounds from which 

 to draw satisfactory conclusions. And when 

 we consider that so much of the comfort of 

 the human family, depends on its improve- 

 ment, we are led to regret that science has 

 not been more devoted to this subject. Much 

 advantage would result to the agriculturist, 

 from a knowledge of the nature of the soils 

 best calculated to produce vegetation in the 

 higliost state of perfection. The substances 

 of which vegetables are composed is al.-o an 

 importp.nt consideration, naturally lending to 

 the knowledge of the proper constituents of 

 manures, best calculated to furnish the food 

 of plants. Many substances are used as 

 manures which do not enter into the com- 

 position of vecetablos. rnnscqucntly cannot 

 Cab.— Vol. III. -No. 6. 169 



operate advantageou.sly in the production of 

 vegetation. 



Vegetables are organized bodies, composed 

 of a few similar simple substances, only dif- 

 fering in their proportions, consequently their 

 'difference in ornranization, which constitutes 

 their difference in form and properties. The 

 'cabbage and the deadly night-shade are com- 

 ! posed of the same substances, only differing 

 I in their proportions. Vegetables receive their 

 I nourishment through the medium of absorb- 

 ents, and thrown into the general circulation, 

 'there to be subjected to the various changes 

 ! necessarily resulting from the operation of 

 the laws that govern the germ of organiza- 

 tion, existing in the seed from which they 

 grew, and continues to govern all accession 

 to the plant up to a stateof maturity and per- 

 fection. Vegetables perform the various 

 functions of respiration, perspiration, the 

 discharge of excrementitinus matter, &.c. 

 They are also subject to disease and death, 

 consequently proper objects for the curative 

 operation; hence the physiology, pathology, 

 and therapeutics of plants, are subjects that 

 merit much of the consideration of the philo- 

 sopher. If they were better understood, it 

 would vastly promote the success of agricul* 

 ture. But very few, even amongst the besfe 

 practical farmer.", are acquainted with the- 

 constituents of vegetables; under such circum-* 

 stances, how can they judiciously judge of 

 the substances be.st calculated to promote the 

 growth and perfection of plants? Vegeta- 

 bles bein<j immovably fixed in the earth, they 

 are unable to change their position in quest 

 of proper stistenanco, hence it becomoi* ne- 

 cessary that the substances required for their 

 nourishment should be kept within contact 

 of their absorbing roots. In order to accf.m- 

 plish that object, a proper mixture of the 



