Section Viii.—Concluding Observations.

In this little work, now brought to a close, I have presented the reader with a slight, and I hope plain and familiar, sketch of the various topics connected with practical agriculture, on which the sciences of chemistry and geology are fitted to throw the greatest light.

We have studied the general characters of the organic and inorganic elements of which the parts of plants are made up, and the several compounds of these elements which are of the greatest importance in the vegetable kingdom. We have examined the nature of the seed,—seen by what beautiful provision it is fed during its early germination—in what form the elements by which it is nourished are introduced into the circulation of the young plant when the functions of the seed are discharged,—and how earth, air, and water are all made to minister to its after-growth. We have considered the various chemical changes which take place within the growing plant, during the formation of its woody stem, the blossoming of its flower, and the ripening of its seed or fruit,—and have traced the further changes it undergoes, when, the functions of its short life being discharged, it hastens to serve other purposes, by mingling with the soil, and supplying food to new races. The soils themselves in which plants grow, their nature, their origin, the causes of their diversity in mineral character, and in natural productiveness, have each occupied a share of our attention—while the various means of improving their agricultural value by manuring or otherwise, have been practically considered, and theoretically explained. Lastly, we have glanced at the comparative worth of the various products of the land, as food for man or other animals, and have briefly illustrated the principles upon which the feeding of animals and the relative nutritive powers of the vegetables on which they live are known to depend.

In this short and familiar treatise I have not sought so much to satisfy the demands of the philosophical agriculturist, as to awaken the curiosity of my less instructed reader, to shew him how much interesting as well as practically useful information chemistry and geology are able and willing to impart to him, and thus to allure him in quest of further knowledge and more accurate details to my larger work, of which the present exhibits only a brief outline.

LECTURES on Agricultural Chemistry and Geology.

J. P. Wright, Printer, 18 New street, N. Y.

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