PART FIRST* 
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CHAPTER I. 
Geneial Notions on the Art of cultivating the Soil> an& 
of the different Objects that exist in Nature . 
LESSON I. 
DIVISIONS IN THE ART OF CULTIVATION. 
1. The Art of Cultivation. —The object of this art is 
t-o obtain from the earth the greatest possible quantity of 
products ; and it is usually divided into four parts, namely: 
1 Agriculture, or the cultivation of fields. 2. Horticul¬ 
ture, or the cultivation of gardens. 3. The cultivation of 
the grasses. 4. Arboriculture, or the cultivation of trees. 
2. Agriculture. —The principal aim of agriculture is to 
produce those plants that are mq^t generally used as food, 
by man and domestic animals ; such as wheat, Indian corn, 
rye, barley, oats, as also potatoes, beets, turnips, clover, 
lucerne, etc. Among the products of agriculture are also 
to be classed what are called the industrial plants, such as 
flax, hemp, cotton, hops, madder, and others that furnish 
materials for different manufactures, either at home or 
abroad. Thus we see that agriculture is the chief founda¬ 
tion of a nation’s power, as it not only furnishes man with 
food and clothing, but alstf with materials for the mechanic 
arts, and commerce 
