V 



G 



T 



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The reafon why ^11 the tcrreftrial matter miMed with | So likewile the Miiit in another ghifs in the v.aterof 

 the water does not afcend into that, is, that the mine- 



ral matter makes a great deal of it, which is not only 

 grofs and ponderous, but icabrous and inflexible, and 

 lb not diipofcd to enter the pores of the roots ; bc- 

 fides, a great many of the fimple vegetable particles 

 do bv deo;rces unite and form fmall clods, or mole- 

 cuLx, which flick to the extremities ot the roots or 



thofe plants, and others of them entangled in a loofer 

 manner for the nubecula, or green bodies, lo com- 

 monly obfervcd in ftagnant water ; tliefe, when thus 

 conjoined, are too big to enter the pores, or afcend 

 up the vefiels of plants, which fingly they might have 



done. 



Hence it is, that in agricultflre, be the earth never fo 

 rich, good, and fit for the produdtion of Corn, or 

 other vegetables, little will come of it, unlefs the 

 particles be feparated and loofe ; and it is on this 

 account fuch pains are beflowed in the digging, til- 

 ling, ploughing, fallowing, harrowing, and break- 

 ing the clodded lumps of earth ; and it is the fame 

 way that fea fait, nitre, and other falts promote Ve- 

 getation. 



Some authors imagine nitre eflential to plants, and 

 that nothing in the vegetable kingdom is tranfacted 

 without it ; but Dr. Woodward fays, by all the trials 

 he has been able to make, the thing feems to him 

 quite otherwife ; and when contiguous to the plant, 

 nitre rather deftroys than nourifhes it. This I have 

 myfelf found to be true, for by fcattering fome nitre 



which was dillblved a fmall quantity of ^(yjd o-.^rdcii 

 mould, though it had tlie clifadvantaee to be Itfs 

 when firfl- ict, than cither of ti-,e Mints" in tlie t\vc» 

 other glafles had, the v/ater in wiiich was the very fame 

 as the firft, only none of the earth mixed witli^C; yer 

 in a lliort time the plant not cnl)' overtook, but much 

 outflripped the other. 



The realon why the proportion of the incrcafe of ti:e 

 plant was limited to the quantity of proper tcrreftrial 

 matter in the water, is, that all, even vegetable mat- 

 ter, is not proper for the nourifnment of every i^lant ; 

 nor do there want good indications, that everv kind 

 requires a peculiar and fpecific matter for its formation 

 and nouriflin-tcnt, nay, each part of the fame vege- 

 table ; and that there are very many and differentl'n- 

 gredients, to go to the conipofition of the fame indivi- 

 dual plant. 



If therefore the foil wherein any vegetable or feed is 

 planted, contains all or moft of thele ingredients, and 

 thofe in due quantity, it will grow and thrive, other- 

 wife it will not. If there be not as many forts of cor- 

 pufcles as are requifite for th.e conftruction of the m.ain 

 and more eflential parts of the plant, it will not profpcr 

 at all. If there are thefe, and not in fufficient plen- 

 ty, it will never arrive to its natural fl:ature, or if any 

 of the lefs neceflfary and effential corpufcles arc want- 

 ing, there will be fome failure in the plant. It will 

 be defe£live in fm.ell, tafl:e, colour, and fome other 

 way 



round the roots of three or four plants, it killed them ] Indeed it is inconceivable, Iiov/one uniform homoge- 



■ in a few days. 

 But nitre and other falts certainly loofen the earth, 

 and feparate the concreted parts of it, by tliat means 

 fitting and difpofing them to be afllimed by the water, 

 and carried up into the feed or plant for its formation 

 and increafe. 



It is evident to obfervation, how apt all forts of falts 



are to be wrought upon by moifture, how eafily they 



run with it; and when thefe are drawn off, and have 



. deferted the lumps with which they are inc6rpbfatdd, 



. they muft moulder imrhediatelv, and fall afunder in 

 cogrfc. 



'\:^-i:i^\ 



, rXhe hard,eu: ftone^^that is. to be met with, if it happens 

 .,{asj.t frequently. does) to have ariy falt„ intermixed 

 witn me fand of which it confifts, upon its being ex- 

 pofed in a humid air, in a fhort time diflTolves and 

 crumbles all to pieces ; and niucli more will clodded 

 earth or clay, which is not of fo compadl and folid a 

 conftitution. 



■ 4 



Lime likewife is in the fame way ferviqeable in this 

 affair. Thehufbandmenfay, it does riot fatten, but 

 .only mellows the .ground ; by which they mean, it doth 

 not contain any thing in itfelf, that is of the fame na- 

 ture with the vegetable mould, or afford any matter 

 fit for the formation of plants, b.ui;, merely foften and 

 '-..relaxes the earth; by that means rendering it more 

 - capable of entering the feeds and vegetables fet in it, 

 in order to their nourilhment, than otherwife it would 

 have been. , . ^ ■ ■ i;-i, ^ , ^ ^ / . 



The properties of lime are well known, and how apt 

 it is to be put into a ferment and commotion by wa- 

 ter; nor can fuch commotion ever happen, when 

 i lime is mixed with earth, however hJfd and clodded 

 i it may be, without opening and lodfening it. 



s -/-< 



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^ IV. The plant is more- or lefs nonrijhed^ in proportion as 

 ,/ the water in which it Jlands^ contains a greater or 

 fmaller quantity of proper terreflrial matter in it. 



- [ 



» « 



-i ' -* J J * 



The truth of this propofition is difcernible through 



the whole procefs of the Doctor's experiments. The 



;. Mint in one of the glaffes was of much the fame bulk 



: and weight with that of two or three others ; but the 



water in which the firft was, being river water, which 



, was apparently more copioufly ftored with terreftrial 



; matter than the fpring or rain water, in which the 



- other, ftood, occafioned it to arrive at almoft double 



the bulk that either of them had, aiid with lefs cx- 



^;;iience of water too.. 



r 



neous matter, having its principles, or original parts, 



of the fame fubftance, conilitution, magiiitude, figure, 



and gravity, fhould conllitute bodies fo unlike in all 



thofe refpefts, as vegetables of different kinds are, 



•; nay, even as the different parts of the fame vegeta- 



blci that one fhould cari-y a refinous, another a milky, 



a third a yellow, and a fourth a red juice in its veins ; 



„ that one affords a fragrant, another an offenfive fmell ; 



one fweet to the tafte, another acid, bitter, acerb, au- 



ftere ; that one fhould be nouriJhing, another poifon- 



ous ; one purgirig, 'another aftringent ; and thefe all 



receive their hourifhment from the fame foiL 



^ACataputia, Tithymalualatifolius Cataputia diifla, in 



: one of, the glaffes afforded buf a little increafe, only 



•; -3 £ grains all the while, though 2501 grains of water 



: were Ipent upon it ; but this might poffibly be owing; 



, not to the water's wanting matter fit for t!ie nourifii- 



ment of that particular plant, but from its being an 



improper medium for that to grow in. Too much of 



that liquor in fome plants, may probably hurry the 



terreftrial matter througli theveffels too faftfor them 



to lay hold of it. 



But a farther proof of this matter is, that the foil once 



proper for the produ6lion of fome fort of vegetables, 



does not ever continue fo, but in traft of time lofes 



its property ; and fooner in fome lands, and later in 



others. •: ' ■ - ;• - ; ■ ' 



As for example : if Wheat be fown upon land proper 

 for that grain, the firft crop will fucceed very well, 

 and perhaps the fecond and third, as long as the 



- ground is in heart, as the farmers call it ; but in a few 

 years it will produce no more, if fowed with that 

 Corn ; fome other grain it may, as Barley ; and after 

 this has been fown fo oft, that the land can bring no 



• more of it, it may afterward yield fome good Oats, 

 and perhaps Peas after them. . ^ ' - • • 

 At length it becomes barren ; the vegetative matter 

 that at firft it abounded with, being rediicd by the 

 fucceffive crops, and moft of it borne off, each fort of 

 grain takes out tTiat peculiar matter that is proper for 

 its own riburifhment. 

 It may be brought to bear anatlier feries of the fame 



K K 



vegetables, but not till it is fupplied with another 

 fund of matter of the like fort with v/hat it firft con- 

 tained ; either by the ground's lying fallow for fome 

 time, till the rain hath poured a freili ftock upon it, 

 or by the manuring it. -- 



That this fupply is of the like fort is evident, by tlie 



feveral manures found beft to promote the Vegeta- 

 tion j 



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