The Elements of Agriculture - A Book for Young Farmers #248773

Before this can be done we must study the char acter of plants, and learn their exact composition. They are not created by a mysterious power, they are merely made up Of matters already in existence. They take up water containing food and other mat ters, and discharge from their roots, or their leaves, or deposit within their pores, those substances that are not required for their growth. It is necessary for us to know what kind of matter is required as food for the plant, and whence it is to be Obtained; this we can learn only through such means as shall separate the elements of which plants are composed.