DICTIONARY OF TERMS 
USED IN 
Agriculture and its Kindred Sciences. 
DUNG. The excrementitious parts of the food void¬ 
ed by animals, and generally employed as a manure. 
Its value to the agriculturist is very great; and the best 
farmers are the most careful to gather and preserve it 
in a proper state, as one of the most important of their 
resources for fertilizing the soil. 
DURATION OF PLANTS. The several kinds of 
plarts vary very much in their- degrees of longevity, some 
being annual,perfecting their growth within a year, ripen¬ 
ing their seeds and perishing. Others are perennial and 
continue to grow and flourish for years and centuries. 
Warm or cold climates have much influence on the du¬ 
ration of plants, and in some few instances plants that 
are annual in cold climates, become perennial when 
transplanted into warm regions, and vice versa. There 
are some kinds of trees that are very short lived, as the 
peach and the plum, others reach a great age, as the pear 
and the apple. Some kinds of forest trees are remark¬ 
able for their duration, and specimens are in existence 
seemingly coeval with the date of the present order of 
things on our globe. The oak and chestnut or pine of 
our forests reach the age of from three hundred to five 
hundred years. The cypress or white cedar of bur 
swamps has furnished individuals eight or nine hundred 
years old. Trees are now living in England and Con¬ 
stantinople more than one thousand years old, of the 
yew, cypress and plane tree varieties; and Adanson 
found trees of the baobab growing near the Senegal in 
Africa, which, reckoning from the ascertained age of 
others of the same species, must have been nearly four 
thousand years of age. It may be remarked that plants 
of the same variety attain about the same age in all cli¬ 
mates where they are produced. 
DWARF. In horticulture, this is the name given to 
trees so prepared as to have their tops low and occupy¬ 
ing but little room. They may be considered as per¬ 
fect, though almost miniature trees, and when loaded 
with fruit exhibit a beautiful, though somewhat singu¬ 
lar appearance. 
EARTHS. The earths that are of the most conse¬ 
quence to the agriculturist as constituting arable soils, 
are silica, lime, alumina, magnesia, oxide of iron, and 
some few saline substances, as sulphate and phosphate 
of lime. The arable soils or earths are produced by the 
decomposition of the rocks which form the basis of our 
globe, and their quality is depending on the proportion 
in which the several ingredients enter into combination. 
Not one of these earths is of itself adapted to cultiva¬ 
tion, and where any one of them is found in excess, ste¬ 
rility is the inevitable result. The best earths, or those 
best adapted to agriculture, are those that unite the pro¬ 
perties most in demand by vegetables, and nearly in the 
proportions in which they exist in the most valuable 
plants. There is to be a distinction made between 
earths and soils, though the difference is frequently 
overlooked or forgotten. The earths are made by the 
decomposition of the primitive elements of the globe ; 
this material is converted into soil by the admixture and 
combination of animal or vegetable matter, and the fer¬ 
tility is usually depending on the proportion in which 
this is blended with the earths. The earths in some 
form exist in all plants ; and by reducing them to ashes 
and submitting them to analysis the proportion and kind 
of earths may be ascertained. Thus Buckhart found 
that 100 parts of the ashes of the following plants, well 
leached yielded of the 
principal earths as follows : 
Silica. 
Lime. 
Alumina. 
Ashes of wheat, 
48 
37 
15 
“ “ oats, 
“ “ barley, 
68 
26 
6 
69 
16 
15 
“ “ rye, 
63 
21 
16 
u “ potatoes, 
4 
66 
30 
“ “ red clover, 
37 
33 
30 
Tillet instituted a great variety of experiments with 
the earths, in order to 
ascertain 
the most 
fertile mix- 
ture, and succeeded best with 46 parts of silica, 37 of 
lime, and 16 of alumina. The analysis of an excellent 
soil by Bergmann, gave of silica 56 parts, alumina 14, 
and lime 30. In soils the greatest proportion may be 
silica, some fruitful soils going as high as 75 or 78; but 
when alumina is found to exceed 45, the soil is worth¬ 
less for agriculture, and only fit for earthen ware or 
brick- That the earths are held by water in a state of 
solution, and are thus taken up by plants seems clear, 
from the fact that plants growing on soils to which salts 
of lime, such as gypsum or phosphate are applied, are 
found by analysis to contain more than where they have 
not been so used. A knowledge of the earths, and the 
ability to determine the proportions in which they ex¬ 
ist in the soil, is of very great service to the farmer. 
EARTH WORM. (Lumbricus terristris.) This worm, 
the common angle worm of the fisher, though apparent¬ 
ly of little consequence to the agriculturist, is in some 
places found in such numbers as prove a great nuisance, 
and seriously affect the character of the soil. It is ge¬ 
nerally most abundant in moist lands, or in gardens 
that are heavily manured, and their presence may read¬ 
ily be known by observing the earth after rains, when 
numerous openings will be found, each accompanied by 
a small portion of earth apparently forced upwards from 
the opening and termed worm casts. That these worms 
absorb, where they exist in great numbers, much of the 
nutritive matter that should go to the growth of plants 
cannot well be doubted ; though there is no proof that 
they feed directly on the roots of the plants, as some 
have supposed. Where they are found in large num¬ 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
bers they will sometimes accumulate in cisterns, wells 
and other reservoirs of water from which they cannot 
escape, in such quantities as to render the water most 
offensive. Quick lime applied to the earth worm is fa¬ 
tal ; but the most probable means of destroying it would 
seem to be deep plowing late in the fall, and the conse¬ 
quent exposure to the frosts of winter. The anatomi¬ 
cal structure of the earth worm is curious, a row of 
holes existing along the back between the several seg¬ 
ments, some 120 in number, through which the respira¬ 
tion is performed. 
EGG. “Every thing from an egg,” was a favorite 
maxim with the ancients, and so far as living, organiz¬ 
ed creatures are concerned, may be considered as true; 
birds, fishes, reptiles, insects and worms bring forth 
eggs ; and the ovaria of the higher classes of animals 
are to be considered as collections of eggs, from which 
under favorable circumstances the germ or embryo of 
the animal is produced. The eggs of birds, particular¬ 
ly the domestic fowl, is an excellent article cf food, and 
for many of the purposes of cookery seems indispensa¬ 
ble. The white of the egg, composed of albumen, is 
used for clarifying liquors, cleansing sugars, varnishing 
paper, and when mixed with fresh burnt slaked lime, or 
other powdered articles according to the use required, 
it makes a strong cement. Eggs may be preserved by 
keeping them in lime water, by packing them in salt, 
by covering them with varnish or oil and keeping them 
in a place of low temperature. Some of the eggs of 
reptiles are good for food, as those of the turtle; and 
the eggs or roe of fishes, are extensively used for food 
in those countries where the salmon or sturgeon are 
found in abundance. 
ELDER. Sambucus of the botanist, is a plant well 
known to the farmer, as subjecting him to no little trou¬ 
ble in eradicating it from his fields. There are two 
kinds, the S. canadensis , or black berried elder; and the S. 
pubescens, or red berried elder. The last rarely occasions 
any inconvenience except in new districts; the first 
chooses the meadows or the richest intervale, and when 
once allowed a foothold, spreads slowly but surely, oc¬ 
cupying every inch of ground to the total exclusion of 
other plants. It is also very apt to insinuate itself by 
fences, the banks of streams, &e., and when established 
it is eradicated from any place with difficulty. The ber¬ 
ries, leaves, and wood of the elder are applied to vari¬ 
ous useful purposes. The juice of the berries, ferment¬ 
ed, makes a wholesome wine ; in Germany a strong spi¬ 
rit is distilled from them, and they are extensively used 
for giving a deeper color to pale wines. Mowing the 
elder appears to have little effect on the spread of the 
plant; beating the plant down to the earth, stripping 
and bruising the stem and leaves as much as possible, 
and repeating the operation twice or thrice in the sea¬ 
son is said to arrest and destroy them effectually. In 
the early settlement of western New-York, we have seen 
millions of the wild pigeon feeding on the red berries of 
the S. pubescens ; though those of the other kind are said 
to be fatal to poultry. 
ELECAMPANE, (Inula helenium,) is a plant now 
naturalized in this country, to which it was early im¬ 
ported from Europe. It is much used in disorders of the 
breast and lungs, as it promotes expectoration, and is 
also a sudorific. Whenever it is cultivated, however, it 
should be watched and kept within prescribed limits 
as it is apt to spread, and become a troublesome weed 
to the farmer. 
ELECTRICITY. The name given to one of the most 
important branches of the natural sciences, the develop¬ 
ment of the laws of which is of comparatively modern 
date, and in which discoveries of the most important na¬ 
ture are now continually making. The ancients were 
aware that certain substances, as amber, when rubbed, 
received a power of attracting to themselves light sub¬ 
stances, but very little interest appears to have ever 
been felt respecting it even in modern times, till the bold 
conjecture of Franklin, verified by himself, that light¬ 
ning was only accumulated electricity, fixed the atten¬ 
tion of men of science on the subject; and by successive 
advances has demonstrated that every particle of mat¬ 
ter is penetrated by and under the influence of this in¬ 
visible, imponderable agent, and that to it we owe most 
of the numerous changes that are continually taking 
place in nature. It has been rendered probable that the 
fluids known as caloric, light, electricity, magnetism, 
and galvanism, are only different modifications of the 
same all-pervading agent, and that to its efficiency 
we owe all chrystallization, growth and organization. 
The power of producing the electric spark has long been 
possessed; but within a few years the researches of 
science have united the before considered distinct 
agents of electricity and magnetism, and currents of 
the electro-magnetic fluid are now kept up for any 
desirable time, and their action directed with the 
greatest certainty and ease on any given point. By 
means of this, a continued power is produced capable of 
moving machinery, as has been demonstrated by Daven¬ 
port and others; and though as yet but few practical 
applications of the power have been made, it seems rea¬ 
sonable to suppose that farther advances in the investi¬ 
gation will develop its applicability to most of the uses 
where steam is now required. The effect of electricity 
on vegetation has not received the attention it deserves. 
That plants push forward much faster where the elec¬ 
tric currents are active is well know to the farmer ; but 
how far this new agent may be used to hasten vegeta¬ 
tion is not generally understood. Some experiments 
seem to show the power to be very great. Thus by 
sowing the seeds of cresses in a suitable earth, watered 
1S7 
and of the proper temperature, and making the mass part 
of a voltaic circle, the seeds are germinated and the 
plant fully developed in a few hours; and very similar 
effects are produced on other seeds. There can indeed 
be little doubt that all vegetation owes its existence to 
currents of this fluid, and if man is able to produce or 
control them, they may be made of essential service. 
The effect of electricity in hastening vitality in the em¬ 
bryo of animals is not less striking. The eggs of the 
common fowl require from twenty to twenty-five days 
to produce the young, according to the temperature. By 
exposing them to the electro-magnetic current, the 
young are hatched in five or six days ; and most are 
aware of the result of Mr. Cross’s experiments in which 
insects were repeatedly produced by the passage of the 
current through silicate of potash. It may well, there¬ 
fore, be supposed that our knowledge of this electric 
agent is yet in its infancy ; and that the investigation of 
science will soon cause this powerful but mysterious ac¬ 
tor in the phenomena of the universe, to cause to be re¬ 
garded as something only existing in the speculations of 
the philosopher, and that it will be made subservient to 
these purposes of practical utility of which it is evident¬ 
ly capable. 
EMBRYO. The germ, which is the earliest point of 
vegetable or animal existence, is never developed be¬ 
yond a certain state, unless it be vivified by the action 
of a peculiar fluid, which is the product of other organs. 
Thus there are established two different classes of struc¬ 
tures; the office of one being the formation and preser¬ 
vation of the seed, germ, or ovum, and the other the pro¬ 
duction of the vivifying fluid. The effect of this vivi¬ 
fying fluid upon the hitherto'latent germ is called fe¬ 
cundation, and the germ when fecundated is called the 
embryo. The bud, though it may produce a plant, or a 
tree, is of a very different class of embryo existence 
from those formed by the fecundation of the seed or 
ovum. The manner of the formation of the embryo, is 
almost infinitely varied in plants as well as vitally or¬ 
ganized beings. In some of the infusorial animals, pro¬ 
duction takes place by a simple division of the parent, 
the embryo and the orignal stock being of the same size 
and undistinguishable from each other. Some plants 
also possess the same power of casting off embryo from 
their own substance, of which a curious instance is af¬ 
forded in the Lenina or common duckweed, found on 
stagnant water. It consists of a small circular leaf 
floating on stagnant pools, and the gems are developed 
on the edges of the leaves, from which, when sufficient¬ 
ly grown, it is detached, and floats away to become the 
founder of new families. In the Filices or fern tribes 
the embryo plants are formed on the under surface of 
the leaves, apparently by the simple process of evolu 
tion, and when detached they fall to the ground and ta 
king root become new plants. By far the greater num¬ 
ber of plants have the two sets of organs necessary for 
the formation of the embryo, contained in the same 
flower; or at least in flowers belonging to the same in¬ 
dividual plant; but there is a limited number in which 
the fecundation of the germ is effected by organs on an¬ 
other individual plant, and the formation of the embry- 
on depends on the transference of the fecundating dust 
or pollen from the blossoms of one plant to the other. 
Attention to, or a knowledge of the different methods in 
which the fecundation of the germ in plants is affect¬ 
ed, gives the producer of them great advantages in im¬ 
proving the species by crossing, or by impregnating the 
germs of one plant possessing some desirable quality, 
with the .pollen of another kind desirable on some other 
account, and thus producing an embryo plant uniting 
the best qualities of both the parents ; and the same rule 
has been most satisfactorily tested by the scientific far¬ 
mer in the improvement of that part of the animal king¬ 
dom committed to his care. 
ENDOGENOUS. In some plants the addition made 
to their growth takes place from the interior of the 
plant, and in some from the exterior. In the first case 
the plant is called endogenous, and in the last, exogenous. 
All trees belonging to the family of palms, the date, co¬ 
coa nut tree, breadfruit tree, the bamboo, sugar cane, 
and indeed most of the trees belonging to tropical cli¬ 
mates, as -well as all gramineous and filaceous plants, 
are endogenous. On the contrary, most of the trees of 
temperate or northern regions, such as the oak, pines, 
and elms, and the various fruit trees, are exogenous. In 
the first, each successive addition is made from within 
like drawing out an additional slide to a telescope ; in the 
last the addition is made between the bark and the wood 
of the previous year’s growth, and these successive lay 
ers determine the age of the tree, as the joints of the 
palm do the age of that class. The stems of endoge¬ 
nous plants, after they become consolidated, never in¬ 
crease in size ; they can only increase in heighth ; while 
the exogenous ones continue to increase in circumfe¬ 
rence as well as in height during their whole fife. 
Farming on the Prairies. —The Christian Intelli¬ 
gencer contains a most interesting description of Madi¬ 
son and its vicinity, in Wisconsin, from which we make 
this extract. “ The prairies have their beauties. With 
no more difficulty than the management of an old mea¬ 
dow in the east, a farm of almost any extent, can here 
be opened, and in three years, it has all the appearance 
of having been cultivated one hundred years. You 
would be surprised to see the luxuriant fields and gar¬ 
dens of the west, reclaimed from a wilderness of centu¬ 
ries by the labor of two or three years. Already the 
Cultivator is read, and the most approved modes of 
agriculture are in use.” 
