Absorb—to soak in a liquid or a gas.

Abstract—to take from.

Acid—sour; a sour substance.

Agriculture—the art of cultivating the soil.

Alkali—the direct opposite of an acid, with which it has a tendency to unite.

Alumina—the base of clay.

Analysis—separating into its primary parts any compound substance.

Carbonate—a compound, consisting of carbonic acid and an alkali.

Caustic—burning.

Chloride—a compound containing chlorine.

Clevis—that part of a plow by which the drawing power is attached.

Decompose—to separate the constituents of a body from their combinations, forming new kinds of compounds.

Digestion—the decomposition of food in the stomach and intestines of animals (agricultural).

Dew—deposit of the insensible vapor of the atmosphere on cold bodies.

Excrement—the matter given out by the organs of plants and animals, being those parts of their food which they are unable to assimilate.

Fermentation—a kind of decomposition.

Gas—air—aeriform matter.

Gurneyism—see Mulching.

Ingredient—component part.

Inorganic—mineral, or earthy.

Mouldboard—that part of a surface plow which turns the sod.

Mulching—covering the soil with litter, leaves, or other refuse matter. See p. 247.

Neutralize—To overcome the characteristic properties of.

Organic Matter—that kind of matter which at times possesses an organized (or living) form, and at others exists as a gas in the atmosphere.

Oxide—a compound of oxygen with a metal.

Phosphate—a compound of phosphoric acid with an alkali.

Proximate—an organic compound, such as wood, starch, gum, etc.; a product of life.

Pungent—pricking.

Putrefaction—rotting.

Saturate—to fill the pores of any substance, as a sponge with water, or charcoal with ammonia.

Silicate—a compound of silica with an alkali.

Soluble—capable of being dissolved.

Solution—a liquid containing another substance dissolved in it.

Saturated Solution—one which contains as much of the foreign substance as it is capable of holding.

Spongioles—the mouths at the ends of roots.

Sulphate—a compound of sulphuric acid with an alkali.

Vapor—gas.