20 now CROPS FEED. 



out which no life is possible, is largely influenced. "Water, 

 whose excess or deficiency is as pernicious as its proper 

 quantity is beneficial to crops, enters the plant almost 

 exclusively through its roots, and hence those qualities 

 of the soil which are most favorable to a due supply of 

 this liquid demand careful attention. The absorbent pow- 

 er of soils for the elements of fertilizers is a subject which 

 is treated of with considerable fullness, as it deserves. 



Our book naturally falls into two divisions, the first of 

 which is devoted to a discussion of the Relations of the 

 Atmosphere to Vegetation, the second being a treatise on 

 the Soil. 



