1840.] SENATE— No 36. 69 



my conviction that, separate from the causes to which reference 

 has been made, wheat of the best quality, may be grown among 

 us, with as much certainty, as any other crop cultivated, and. 

 that the prominent occasion or ground of failure, is imperfect 

 or deficient cultivation.* 



Soils for Wheat. — With respect to soils suitable for wheat, 

 experience proves that some are more favorable to the growth 

 of wheat than others ; but experience has equally proved, that 

 there are few or none on which a crop cannot be obtained un- 

 der proper management. It will grow luxuriantly upon a pure 

 peat meadow, if it be perfectly drained and thoroughly culti- 

 vated and reduced to a finely comminuted state ; or it will grow 

 upon pure sand with the application of manure, provided a suf- 

 ficiency of moisture can be seasonably applied. It will grow 

 likewise upon clays, if a due portion of animal or vegetable 

 manure is furnished ; the soil freed from superfluous moisture ; 

 and at the same time reduced to such fineness as to be permea- 

 ble to the minute and fibrous roots of the plant. I do not 

 mean to say, that in the cultivation of wheat, the particular 

 kind of the soil is matter of indifference, or that the sole design 

 of the soil is to furnish a mechanical support for the plant ; but 

 that the growth and health of the plant more than any thing 

 else depend on the finely divided state of the soil, so that the 

 fibrous roots of the plant may freely extend themselves in every 

 direction ; and upon the manure applied, by which I mean de- 

 cayed organic matter, either or both vegetable or animal re- 

 mains, in sufficient quantity and well distributed in the soil. 

 Further it is especially requisite that the soil by careful cultiva- 

 tion, be laid open as far as possible to the reach and powerful 

 influences of light, air, and moisture. 



Philosophy of Vegetation. — I shall not enter deeply into 

 the philosophy of vegetation or the nature of soils ; but it is 

 safe to say, however mortifying to our pride to realize the con- 

 viction, that a solution of many of the mysteries of nature, in 

 the vegetable or animal world, is as yet not even approached. 

 Theories respecting the different operations or influences in 



^ Appendix C. 



