ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE,, 
13 
CHAPTER II. 
Vegetable Anatomy and Physiology . 
LESSON IIL 
THE ORGANS OF PLANTS. 
15. To enable the farmer to obtain the greatest possible 
neld from his land, it is necessary that he should know 
die different plants that can be cultivated to the best ad¬ 
vantage, according to the circumstances in which he finds 
himself placed. It is equally useful to know how to dis¬ 
tinguish the hurtful plants, or weeds, that flourish in his 
soil. To this ejid, some notions of botany are necessary ; 
for it is this science (see No. 8) that teaches us the nature 
and properties of plants. It is particularly when we wish 
to study the nature of a soil, or introduce a new plant into 
cultivation, that we feel the importance of a knowledge 
of botany. Soils, as they may be calcareous, clayey, or 
sandy, are more favorable to the growth of one plant than 
another; and it is by an examination of the spontaneous 
growth, that we are enabled to recognise, almost to a cer¬ 
tainty, whether such a grain, or such a plant, will thrive 
in our soil. 
16. Botany is divided into several parts; but those that 
it is the most important to examine here, are the anatomy 
and physiology of plants . 
17. Vegetable anatomy treats of the division of the or¬ 
gans of plants, and of their respective positions. Vegeta - 
ble physiology treats of the functions of these organs, and 
teaches how plants are nourished and reproduced. 
18. All the organs do not fulfil the same functions: some 
serve for nutrition — that is to say, they procure fo* 
2 
