324 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



iug on other substances which the plants require, in such a man- 

 ner as to render them soluble, and thus facilitate their entrance 

 into the roots. We all know that the quality and quantity of 

 the matters generated by the vital processes of any plant will 

 vary sensibly, according to the proportion of the various varieties 

 of food with which it is supplied. A plant comes to maturity on 

 the most unfruitful and sterile soil, as well as the most fertile 

 and luxuriant, the only difference between them being the size, 

 number of branches, blossoms and fruit. The object of agricul- 

 ture is to develope in the manner most advantageous certain 

 qualities, and a maximum size in the organs of the plants we cul- 

 tivate, and this can only be attained by the application of those 

 manures which are indispensable to the development of those 

 organs and the production of the quality desired. We must find 

 out a system of agriculture which will enable us to give to each 

 and every plant we grow that which is required by it to attain 

 the object in view. If we desire a fine pliable straw for the pur- 

 poses of making Leghorn hats, the mode of culture is entirely 

 opposite to that which would induce the same straw to grow 

 coarse, strong and stout enough to yield a maximum of grain. 

 The fact is, we must necessarily proceed in the cultivation of 

 plants in exactly the same manner that we do in growing animals. 

 We know that the flesh of wild animals is naturally devoid of fat, 

 and that we can produce it artificially to almost any degree. 

 By the use of charcoal Ave may increase the liver of a goose to 

 such an extent as to cause its death. 



Land of the greatest fertility invariably contains disintegrated 

 minerals with sand and argillaceous earths, in proportions so 

 arranged as to give unlimited access to moisture and air. Such 

 is the soil near Mount Vesuvius, in Italy, which is considered 

 the type of fertile land. Nature indicates to us the requirements 

 of plants at the commencement of the development of their first 

 radical fibers and germs. 



Bequerel has shown that the graminse, leguminosae, crucifer^e, 

 umbelliferse, coniferas, and cucurbitacee always emit acetic acid 

 during germination. A plant which has just broken through 

 the soil, and a leaf just burst open from the bud, furnish ashes 

 by incineration, which contains as much and generally more of 

 alkaline salts than at any period of their life, showing the ad- 

 vantage of sea-weed in the early stages of growth. 



If two plants are grown beside each other, withdraw the same* 



