74 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



or, as it is commonly called, sap-wood, on the outside of the 

 tree. Now, then, this light is made to reappear, when you 

 take a stick and put it upon the fire. If there is no light in 

 the room, that fire will throw out a light, and that light which 

 is thrown out by the burning stick is simply the sun's rays 

 which were absorbed by the upper surface of the leaf and con 

 fined in the sap. The simple elaboration of the sun's rays is 

 fire ligbt. There is, therefore, an essential difference be- 

 tween the function of the root and the function of the leaf. 



Mr. Hart. I do not wish to have the impression go out 

 that I am not in favor of deep and thorough culture, for I 

 am ; but when the practical results have been as I have said, 

 the reason I have supposed to govern the result was some- 

 thing like this : that the manure and vegetable matter con- 

 tained in the earth were in such condition that the plant did 

 not require tbis length of root laterally or into the ground to 

 procure the nutriment which it needed to furnish the heavy 

 crops that I said I had raised. I am very glad, however, that 

 my statement has drawn out the exceedingly interesting and 

 instructive remarks from Mr. Gould to which we have listened. 

 I have been very much entertained and instructed, and I pre- 

 sume others have. 



Mr. Lyman. While we are on the subject of corn, I will 

 "say that three years ago, I tried the experiment of selecting 

 the middle of the ear for seed. Up to that time, my crop had 

 not averaged more than from thirty to thirty-three bushels to 

 the acre. The result was, that I had that year, 1869 — which 

 we all know was a good corn year — forty- seven and a half 

 bushels to'the acre. The next year I pursued the same course, 

 and I had fifty-six and one half bushels to the acre. Thus you 

 see, gentlemen, that by following this course for two years, 

 with the same culture, I had gone up from thirty-three bush- 

 els as the maximum, to fifty-six and a half bushels ; and I am 

 satisfied, that if I keep on, I shall, witli a good season, carry 

 it up to sixty or seventy bushels. This was no fancy crop; 

 there were no extra pains taken with it ; it was simply the 

 natural increase, as it seemed to me, 'from year to year. 



S. L. Goodale, of Saco, Maine. The more I reflect upon 



