REPORT 
ON THE 
AGRICULTURE OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK, 
PART Iff. 
CHAPTER I. 
PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 
INORGANIC ELEMENTS OF VEGETABLES I THEIR NUMBER FEW; THEIR CHARACTER, ORIGIN, AND SOME OF THEIR 
COMBINATIONS. SILEX, ITS RELATIONS AND USES IN PLANTS. ALUMINA, LIME, MAGNESIA ; PHOSPHORUS, 
SULPHUR ; IRON, MANGANESE ; POTASH, SODA AND AMMONIA ; CHLORINE, CARBON, OXYGEN, NITROGEN AND 
HYDROGEN. CARBONIC ACID AND ORGANIC MATTER; THEIR UTILITY IN SOILS. VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES: 
STARCH, LIGNIN, GUM, DEXTRINE ; EXTRACTIVE AND COLORING MATTERS. ANIMAL SUBSTANCES I PROTEIN; 
ALBUMEN, FIBRIN, CASEIN, GLUTEN, GEL\TIN ; BLOOD; MILK. -RECAPITULATION. 
In the preceding volume of the Agriculture of New-York, I attempted to give the results 
of many analyses of the soils peculiar to the State, the object of which was the determi¬ 
nation of the amount of nutritive matter contained in them. This seemed to be required, 
as one of the first steps which should be taken to elucidate, in the order most natural, the 
principles which lie at the foundation of all improvements in husbandry. That the com¬ 
position of soils requires a full and perfect determination, is now admitted. It is only by 
possessing this knowledge, that the farmer can cultivate his lands understanding^, or 
cease to work empirically or by rote. A knowledge of the composition of soils is not all 
that is requisite to good and profitable farming : there is still remaining an entire field of 
facts, to which the husbandman should by no means remain a stranger. These facts relate 
[Agriculural Report— Vol. u.] 1 
