OF AGRICULTURE. 31 



peat land, the production of silk, the manufacture of 

 spirit, and other products. 



But few experimental stations having in the main 

 similar objects to those of the Stations on the Conti- 

 nent of Europe, have been established either in our 

 own Country or in America ; but in the German 

 Report above cited, Scotland is credited with one, and 

 the United States with one. 



There are, however, several Stations in the United 

 States, where agricultural investigation is carried on ; 

 and a writer in that Country has recently made an 

 appeal to the Government, to establish Stations 

 with a view to the investigation of each general 

 variety of soil and climate in the United States ; to 

 assign a Chemist to each, to institute experiments 

 with the crops most suitable to the locality, to analyse 

 the soil, &c, and to report the results. 



The records of the results of the investigations con- 

 ducted at the large number of experimental stations on 

 the Continent of Europe, are extremely voluminous ; 

 and the number of systematic works which have ap- 

 peared on various branches of the subject in the 

 French and German languages during the last forty 

 years is very great. I will here refer to the several 

 editions of Liebig's first two works already alluded 

 to, his ' Familiar Letters on Chemistry,' his ' Modern 

 Agriculture/ his 'Principles,' and finally his * Natural 

 Laws of Husbandry,' all of which have appeared in 

 the English language. Reference should also be 

 made to Boussingault's 'Econornie Rurale' the first 

 edition of which was published in English in 1845. 

 It has, however, gone through other editions in 

 France ; and subsequently, at intervals from 1 860 

 to 1878, Boussingault published a series of six 

 volumes, entitled — ' Agronomie, Chimie Agricole et 



