COmXVSKHa DEOr^'ED FKOM TABLK II. 77 



cording to the above table, would be lime and mag- 

 nesia; about 35 lbs. would be potash and soda. The 

 whole quantity 72 lbs. seems small when taken from 

 an acre, and either of the above portions of it appear 

 almost unworthy of notice; yet it is found by expe- 

 rience, that if the crops are unable to obtain these 

 small and comparatively seeming unimportant parts 

 oi their whole bulk from the soil, they absolutely re- 

 fuse to flourish. The farmer may furnish other manures 

 as ly as he pleases, but if they do not in some 



fori it-r contain these missing ingredients, the 



plant can not be forced to grow thriltily or yield 

 abundantly. The appearance of his field will say as 

 plainly as words could express it, that something is 

 needed which he has not given. How many crops 

 thus demanding food from tneir owners, do we see in 

 almost every neighborhood ! Should not the farmer of 

 whom such a demand is made, exert himself to supply 

 what is wanted; and if he does not already know, to 

 gain the necessary knowledge? 



Several points are established by such a table as the 

 foregoing, and these may with advantage be briefly 

 recapitulated 



1. Our cultivated plants retjuire that all of the in- 

 organic substances present in Table I. shall exist in the 

 soil. 



2. They do not require them in the same proportion, 

 the different plants difll^ring in the composition of 

 their a.sh. 



3. This composition of the ash is not accidental, bat 

 Cftch plant has a distinct character of its own. 



4. It is thus rrndrriNi nh\ inii<< that land which would 

 P"' '• able to grow an- 

 ^y u. A crop r»-<iuirin|[f 

 li' 1. lor instun<-(>, iniirht flourish i 'v 



wIp '-^^uirititj much (if this substance u ..ul. 



To the principle thus indicated, we propose to retiim 

 in the next chapter. 7« 



