AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 



CHAPTER I. 



INTRODUCTION. 



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The subject of the following treatise, is an 

 endeavour to explain, in a familiar manner, 

 the processes nature carries on in the assimi- 

 lation of the various substances employed in 

 the growth and nutrition of plants. 



Until a very recent period the consideration 

 of this subject has been too generally deemed, 

 if not altogether beyond the range of the agri- 

 culturist, at all events, as so distantly con- 

 nected with him, as to be of little direct impor- 

 tance. And although at various periods men, 

 eminent for their talents, and for the success- 

 ful application of those talents to agriculture, 

 have called the attention of the public to this 

 subject; their endeavours have too often been 

 of little avail, and the application of science to 

 agriculture has been almost entirely neglected. 



Now, however, we date from a new era. A 

 variety of circumstances have of late combined, 

 to compel a greater attention on the part of all 

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