PREFACE. 



of the State, in which the characters of the natural vegetation have been 

 introduced. It is not pretended that these illustrations were absolutely 

 necessary to the usefulness of the report, still it is believed that the value 

 and interest of the work is thereby materially enhanced. 



In the progress oi this work, numerous subjects came up for investigation ; 

 and such must always be the case in a science which has so wide a field as 

 [culture, among these subjects of investigation, the local temperatures, 

 the annual amounts of rain, the Length of the seasons in the different dis- 

 tricts, the times ot harvest, and the various accidents to which vegetation 

 isionally exposed from contingencies of the weather, have received a 

 re of my attention. Of those questions which all will regard as practically 

 useful, the determination of the composition of the rocks that give origin to 

 the soil i- one which has occupied my particular care. A similar remark 

 might be made respecting the composition of the waters of the different 

 ical formations, though it must be said that want of sufficient time 

 has prevented so lull an investigation of this question as was desirable. As 

 of the soil, the shales, limestones, marls, peats, etc. have constantly 

 occupied my attention; but I have devoted more time to the consideration 

 of the soils thenis. Ives, than to the other subjects of inquiry. 



At the time I began this work, the utility of analyzing soils was regarded 



bv many as questionable, and perhaps the same opinion is still entertained 



tent. My own views at first coincided with the opinions of those 



wl; : the utility of the analysis of soils as somewhat doubtful; 



but on making the reconnoisance before referred to, I became convinced, 



that so far as this State was concerned, many beneficial results would lollow 



fro hful questioning of the soils by analysis. I accordingly commenced 



the work, and have pursued it faithfully up to the present time; and I must 



. that my views in favor of the utility of the undertaking have rather been 



them d by the results obtained, more especially by those which appear 



in the Latter part of this volume. 



I have kept in view, during the whole progress of the work, the relations 



of the the rocks. I cannot, however, avoid observing that the subject 



n to investigation, and that much yet remains to be done in this 



1 of inquiry. A want of time and means has cut short, to a certain extent, 



thp plan I had proposed to carry out. indeed it has been impossible to visit 



