10 



the perpetuity of its specie Here he is brought 

 directly in connection with the higher teachings 

 of Chemistry and Vegetable Physiology. 



The farmer has yet a further and higher ob- 

 ject : he raises plants for the sustentation of ani- 

 mals. This is the great and ultimate end of all 

 agricultural operations. What a beautiful view 

 is here opened by the ordinary routine of the 

 farmer's daily life, of the intimate connection 

 between what are termed the three great king- 

 doms of Nature ! The animal could not exist 

 without the vegetable, which in its turn depends 

 upon tine mineral. Thus he ascends from the 

 dead earth to the living plant, on which is nour- 

 ished the living, moving and s< ntient animal ! 

 In the breeding, feeding and general management 

 of his stock, the manner in which these opera- 

 tions are conducted may be regarded as an unerr- 

 ing index of the state and progress of agricul- 

 ture ; and much of the success of the practical 

 man will depend on the extent and correctness 

 of his knowledge of the principles of Zoology and 

 Animal Physiology. 



Now, will it be maintained that agriculture is 

 so simple a thing that any youth, however feeble 

 his mind and sluggish his mental habits, can 

 readily be made into a farmer, and that to engage 



