340 
AGRICULTURAL BOTANY.-NO. 1. 
AGRICULTURAL BQTANY.—No. 1. 
An Enumeration and Description of Useful 
Plants and Weeds, which merit the notice, or re¬ 
quire the attention of American Agriculturists, 
by William Darlington, M. D., is the title of a 
neat volume of over three hundred pages, and con¬ 
tains the following modest dedication :— 
To the young farmers of the United States, this 
humble attempt to aid, and persuade them to culti¬ 
vate a department of science essential to an enlarg¬ 
ed-agriculture, and indispensable to an accomplish¬ 
ed yeomanry, is respectfully dedicated by the 
author.” The work was printed by Edward C. 
Darlington, son of the author, and is a very credita¬ 
ble specimen of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, typogra¬ 
phy, which was published in Philadelphia, in the 
early part of the summer of 1847, by J. W. Moore, 
138 Chestnut street. 
More than a year has passed since it made its 
appearance, and I have waited with feelings of 
mingled surprise and disappointment for an able 
and more experienced pen than mine to make its 
merits known to the agricultural community, for 
whose especial benefit it was intended, though its 
usefulness is by no means confined to that class of 
readers ; but except a very short and unsatisfactory 
notice of it, in the November number of Silliman’s 
“ Journal of Science and Arts,” no mention of it 
has yet met my eye; and even this useful journal, 
I am sorry to say, does not appear to appreciate it 
as it should, nor is it in general circulation among 
the mass of farmers, who are apt to look with a 
suspicious eye upon all works of a scientific cha¬ 
racter, and therefore leave Silliman’s invaluable 
journal to men of science, as if to them it should be 
exclusively restricted. Moreover, as the notice 
above referred to, does not convey a just estimate 
of the merits of this highly useful, but unassuming 
little volume, I am at length impelled by the 
deep interest I take in the advancement of the 
science of farming, to call public attention to a 
book which needs only be known, to be sought 
with avidity, and placed in the hands of every man 
who wishes to be acquainted with the plants he 
cultivates, and the weeds he tries, often in vain, to 
exterminate. 
I have the highest authority in the botanical 
world in saying that “ whatever Dr. Darlington un¬ 
dertakes to do, is well doneand another not less 
high in the agricultural community, for asserting 
that “ never before has a book appeared, contain¬ 
ing, in so small a compass, so much that is of daily, 
practical use to the farmer and country gentleman, 
and as yet so little known or appreciated beyond 
the comparatively small circle of the author’s 
friends. 
In the excellent prefatory remarks, when allud¬ 
ing to the still existing prejudices against book 
farming, the author says : “ My views have not 
been directed to that unpromising quarter. I ad¬ 
dress myself to the youthful and aspiring agricul¬ 
turists of our country, who seek to elevate their 
noble profession to its just rank among human pur¬ 
suits—and who feel that the exercise of intellect , as 
well as of muscle , is indispensable to the accom¬ 
plishment of their purpose.” And again : “ It is a 
great mistake, in my opinion, to suppose that the 
significant language of our science must necessarily 
be merged in the vernacular idiom, or degraded into 
a local Patois, in order to adapt it to the capacities 
of intelligent, practical men. An active intellect 
more readily acquires new terms appropriate to a 
science, than new meanings of old familiar words; 
and hence it is that most persons, as they advance 
in any department of knowledge, are apt to discard 
all equivocal terms, and substitute those which are 
definite, technical, and peculiar. Instead, there¬ 
fore, of writing down to the level of boorish appre¬ 
hension, I would rather see agricultural works 
generally written up to the scientific standard. 
I would have our young farmers taught to 
appreciate the importance of scientific precision, 
and incited to take their appropriate position in the 
intellectual community.” 
Were I not afraid of making this article too long, 
I should like to insert more of Dr. Darlington’s sen¬ 
sible, convincing remarks. Indeed, I think a page 
of your journal could hardly be better filled than 
with the whole preface, as the best recommenda¬ 
tion of the book itself. 
Following the preface, is a copious glossary, ren¬ 
dering into plain English all the botanical and 
technical terms used in the book; then there is an 
explanation of the abreviations and references. 
Next to this, we find the Linneean classification of 
the genera, for the convenience of those who are 
accustomed to investigate plants by that method. 
Then follows a synoptical view of the general ar¬ 
rangement and grouping of the natural orders to 
which the plants here described are referable, 
which are arranged in accordance -with the natural 
system. Upwards of two hundred pages, making 
the main body of the work, are devoted to clear and 
minute descriptions, generic and specific; each 
species further illustrated by interesting observa¬ 
tions on the origin, history, and utility or worthless¬ 
ness, of each plant; proving, in an ornamental, ag¬ 
ricultural, or medicinal point of view, the author to 
be a sagacious observer, and able to speak as a 
good practical farmer, an excellent botanist, and an 
experienced physician ;—the three departments of 
science to which he has devoted his long and well- 
spent life. He does not say it is his intention to 
describe all the plants that an accomplished agri¬ 
culturist would wish to know; but to include those 
only of which no intelligent farmer would willing¬ 
ly remain ignorant. 
At the close of the volume, preceding the index 
of orders, tribes, genera, and species, a few pages 
are given to an enumeration of all the plants treat¬ 
ed of in the work, classified according to their 
characters and properties. “1. Plants yielding 
roots, herbage, or food for man \ eighty in number, 
of which fifty-seven are cultivated. 2. Plants 
yielding food exclusively, or chiefly, for domestic 
animals ; thirty in number, of which ten are culti¬ 
vated. 3. Plants yielding condiments and drinks ; 
thirty-seven in number, of which thirty-three are 
cultivated. 4. Medicinal plants; thirty-five in 
number, of which fifteen are cultivated. 5. Plants 
employed in the arts, in commerce, in domestic or 
rural economy; ninety-one in number, of which 
twenty-four are cultivated. 6. Pernicious and 
troublesome plants, to be expelled; seventy-three 
in number, of which sixteen or eighteen are par¬ 
ticularly pernicious. 7. Plants which are chiefly 
