72 ESSAY ON IRRIGATION. 



cents, they will find an ample reward, in the benefits they con- 

 fer upon their neighbors, by showing them the difference between 

 such animals, and those Imik, raiv-boned, long-shanked crea- 

 tures, too ofi;en to be found about our farmers' premises. 



PAUL KENT. 

 Andover, Sepiemher 29, 1831. 



DR. SPOFFORD'S ESSAY ON IRRIGATION. 



TO THE SECRETARY OF THE ESSEX AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



I feel that some apology is due to the Trustees for my long 

 delay in fulfilling the appointment with which I was honored by 

 them at their meeting in September, 1830 : and have only to 

 say that it was occasioned by a desire to obtain from a friend, 

 then at a distance, some account of an experiment on a larger 

 scale than any other which has come to ray knowledge in this 

 part of the country. 



Some degree of knowledge of what constitutes the food of 

 plants, seems indispensable to any well conducted system of 

 producing them in the greatest perfection ; and such knowledge 

 seems most likely to be obtained by minutely examining their 

 structure, and carefully observing the manner of their growth. 



Plants constitute one of the great divisions of organic life, and 

 one formed or constituted by systems of fibres and vessels, and 

 endowed with certain powers and appetences which place them 

 at a greater remove above unorganized matter, than they are 

 below animal life ; and appropriate nourishment is elaborated and 

 a complete circulation carried on to the minutest extremity in a 

 manner extremely analogous to tlie circulation which i§, carried 

 on in the arteries and veins of the most perfect animals ; and the 

 apparent intelligence with which plants seek for nourishment, 

 light, air, and support, appears in some instances to bear a strong 

 resemblance to perception and knowledge : and the circulation 

 of fluids in the vessels of plants and animals appears to be 



