26 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
practical farmers. “Mr. Bukham,” says Sir Arthur Young, “as¬ 
serts it as a fact, of which he has not the least doubt, that tillage, 
well managed, would support as much live stock, on the seed, tur¬ 
nips and straw, as the same land would do all under grass; conse¬ 
quently, the corn is all gain to the public—I am certain it 
would” —adds Sir Arthur. Young meadow s produce, besides, a 
far greater burthen than old ones; iheir herbage is much sweeter 
and'more nutritious; and their sward constitutes an excellent pre¬ 
paration for heavy crops of grain and roots. “ It cannot be doubt¬ 
ed,” says Low, “that the produce of the cultivated meadow, consist¬ 
ing of the superior grasses and clovers alone, in their young and 
more juicy state, must be greatly superior to that of the old grasses, 
mixed as they always are with a class of inferior plants.” How 
greatly will it add to th s disparity, if we mix with the old grasses, 
rushes and water plants, which more or less follow irrigation. 
6. The gentlemen who are opposed to us in opinion are both 
men of wealth, and withal practical farmers. Have they introduc¬ 
ed systematic irrigation on their farms ? and if yea, to what ex¬ 
tent, and with what success? Or will they furnish us data of its 
profitable introduction, on any thing like an extensive scale, in our 
northern states ? 
We often see European methods of culture recommended to our 
practice, (and no doubt from worthy motives,) illy suited to our hus¬ 
bandry. It is the province of agricultural editors to discriminate 
between the useful and useless. It was in this spirit that we made 
our suggestion in regard to irrigation in the north. We are sensi¬ 
ble it is an essential branch of improvement in rural labor, in all 
tropical latitudes; that it is extensively and beneficially practised 
in the south of Europe, on tillage (though in a different form) as 
well as on grass lands; and that it is considered indispensable in 
the culture of the rice crop; yet believing it unsuited to our prac¬ 
tice, at this day, we gave this as an apology for saying so little 
on the subject; but we shall be prompt to retract the caution when¬ 
ever we find cause to change our opinions. 
N. B. Since the above was penned, we have read of irrigated 
meadows near Philadelphia, upon which the average crop of hay is 
stated at 2J tons per acre per ann. This is less than the average 
upon young meadows well managed in the alternating system. 
We have also received the conclusion of Judge Lincoln’s 
communication, from which we learn, that he has practised 
irrigation some fifteen years, and that he is pleased with the 
result. But we regret to say, he has not furnished any definite 
data as to cost, product or profit, very material considerations to 
those who might wish to make experiment. The only fact given 
to enable us to judge in the matter, is, the declaration, that “some 
one” informed him, that a Mr. Wilkinson obtained from a water 
meadow, a nett profit more than equivalent to the interest on 200 
dollars per acre. We do not call this a great yield in New-York, 
.—it is less than the product of good farming on the dry mea¬ 
dows of the Albany barrens. 
HEALTH 
Is the first blessing of life. Without it, wealth, and power, and 
knowledge, and friends, lose half their value. Whatever, there¬ 
fore, teaches us how to preserve this blessing, has high regard to 
our notice. In man, the operations of nutrition are greatly multi¬ 
plied; the organs which perform them are numerous and compli¬ 
cated in their structure. “ The long series of processes requisite 
for the perfect elaboration of nutriment is divided into different 
stages; each process is the work of a separate apparatus, and re¬ 
quires the influence of different agents.” A knowledge of these 
organs and these processes, is useful to all, not so much to enable 
them to cure , as to prevent disease. Brutes have an almost unerr¬ 
ing guide, in the instinct with which nature has endowed them, for 
the preservation of health. Man is furnished with higher powers 
and faculties—he is thrown upon the resources of his intel¬ 
lect—the animal and vegetable kingdoms are made subservient to 
his appetites,—and he is commanded to learn how to use them 
for his greatest good. 
The late Rev. Earl of Bridgwater appropriated, in his will, £8,000 
to be awarded, for a treatise, or treatises, “ on the power, wisdom 
and goodness of God, as manifested in the creation; illustrating 
such work by all reasonable arguments, as for instance the variety 
and formation of God’s creatures, in the animal, vegetable and mi¬ 
neral kingdoms; the effect of digestion, and thereby of conversion: 
the construction of the hand of man, and an infinite variety of oth¬ 
er arguments; as also by discoveries, ancient and modern, in arts, 
sciences, and the whole extent of literature.” Under this legacy 
eight gentlemen were appointed to write treatises, most of which 
have come to hand, and which are denominated' “ The Bridgeiva- 
ter Treatises:' \Ve are about to make an extract from one of 
these, “Animal and Vegetable Physiology, by Peter M. Roget, 
M. D.”—“On Nutrition,” accompanied by a cut, illustrating the" 
system of vital organs in man. This will show their multiplicity, 
explain their offices, and admonish us of the precaution that is at 
all times necessary, by a careful attention to the quality and quan¬ 
tity of our food, to preserve them in the healthy exercise of all 
their functions—and thereby to secure the enjoyment of health. 
It may readily be conceived, that the derangement of any set of 
these organs, by food that is unwholesome in quality, or in excess 
in quantity, by artificial compression of the chest, sudden transi¬ 
tions of temperature, indolence, sloth, impure air, kc., must more 
orlefs derange the whole animal system, and cause sickness, and, 
unless the cause is removed, ultimately the death of the patient. 
They will serve to demonstrate, besides, in part, the wonderful me 
chanism of the human system, and lead us to adore the power and 
wisdom of its Maker. These high considerations of utility must 
be our apology, if an apology be necessary, for what to some may 
seenr an indelicate representation. 
“Besides the stomach,” says Dr. Roget, “ or receptacle for the 
unassimilated food, another organ, the heart, is provided for the 
uniform distribution of the nutritious fluids elaborated by the or 
gaps of digestion. This separation of functions, again, leads to 
the introduction of another system of canals or vessels, for trans¬ 
mitting the fluids from the organs which prepare them to the heart, 
as into a general reservoir. In the higher orders of the animal 
kingdom, all these processes are again subdivided and varied, ac¬ 
cording to the species of food, the habits and mode of life, assigned 
by nature to each individual species. For the purpose of convey 
ing clearer notions of the arrangement of this extensive system of 
vital organs, I have drawn the annexed plan which exhibits them 
in their natural order of connexion, and as they might be supposed 
to appear in a side view of a quadruped. To this diagram I shall 
make frequent reference in the following description of this sys¬ 
tem. 
Fig. 5. 
“ The food is, in the first place, prepared for digestion by several 
mechanical operations, which loosen its texture, and destroy its 
cohesion. It is torn down and broken asunder by the action of the 
jaws and teeth; and it is, at the same time, softened by an admix¬ 
ture with the fluid secretions of the mouth. It is then collected 
into amass, by theact ; on of the muscles of the cheeks and tongue, 
and swallowed by the regulated contractions of the different parts 
of the throat. It now passes along a muscular tube, called the 
iesophagus represented in the diagram by the letter (o,) into the sto¬ 
mach (s,) of which the entrance (c,) is called the cardia. 
“ In the stomach the food is made to undergo various chemical 
changes; after which it is conducted through the aperture termed 
the pylorus (p,) into the canal of the intestine, (I, I,) where it is 
