Mamcu 1, iBSf.j ifUM tMOPIdAL A(J,kiCiJtfVKiUf, 



6^9 



methods of mauaging plant-beds. The old method 

 involved the burning of large surfaces of forest land 

 at a heavy cost of labor and firewood, and then leaving 

 the surfaces exposed to the ravages of the flies, which 

 destroy the young plants. Every Spring since the 

 settlement of America the cry, to a greater or less 

 extent, comes up from the planter that his plants 

 are seriously injured by the fly ; and in our experience 

 we have known the planting of crops to be entirely 

 abandoned from this cause. 



Tkinkivg farmers have put their heads to work on 

 this matter, and in the past four or five years they 

 have one after another tried the plan of covering the 

 beds with cloth, and always with success when the 

 work was properly done. The methods pursued by 

 different persons were, of course, in many cases different 

 and more or less thoroughly executed. In this matter, 

 as in all practical operations of the farm, careful 

 execution always pays the best. The most usual method 

 in the new plan is to burn in the woods about oue-f ourth 

 of the surface what would be required if the beds are 

 left uncovered, and to cover with thin and cheap cotton 

 cloth. The bed is frequently square, or nearly so, 

 and necessarily the cloth will sag in the centre unless 

 supported in some way. It is also inconvenient for 

 the cloth to be removed in mild weather to admit 

 air, and moisture from dews and rains ; and more than 

 all, if not saturated with oil, or otherwise gummed 

 over, to render it valueless for under-clothing, the 

 first passing rogue will appropriate it. It is best, 

 however, to use the cloth covering and take all such 

 risks. 



We wish now to suggest to our readers a plan which 

 will save l>io-nin[i the bed, and also make the covering 

 with cloth more conveaieut and efficient. Select a 

 spot of naturally drained land — that is, a porous subsoil 

 through which water will pass — and as near to your 

 stables as possible, with a south or south-eastern 

 exposure; dig a trench one Toot deep, eight feet wide, 

 and as long as may be needed, bj one or more beds, 

 to hold one-third more plants than will be required. 

 This work should be done in a good spell of weather 

 in January, or early in February. After the trench 

 is dug, fill it with fresh stable manure to the depth 

 of a foot after it is firmly tramped down. The haul 

 from the forest fresh mold sufficient to cover the 

 manure six inches, or even eight inches, deep. Kake 

 out all roots, sticks, leaves and other coarse matter. 

 Boards a foot in width are then placed edgewise all 

 around the pit, supported on the inside with jjegs 

 driven into the ground, and the earth on the outside 

 is then banked up to the top of the boards. The 

 bed may be left open until the weather gets cold, or 

 frosty, but before the job is completed eight-penny 

 nails should be driven two feet apart near the top 

 edge of the planks, and their heads left projecting 

 about half the length of the nail, and to these are 

 to be tied the strings which are to be attached to 

 the cloth covering of the bed at distances on its 

 edges corresponding with the nails. The knots in the 

 tying should be such as can be easily unloosened when 

 it is necessary to do so, for air or moisture to the 

 plants. Care should be taken that the twine used for 

 attaching the cover to tho frame is well sewed on 

 with a lap of several inches to prevent a tearing of 

 the cloth, which would be the case if the fastening 

 was confined to one point. 



In a week or two after the bed has been completed, 

 some of the grass seeds which may be in the mold 

 which covers it will vegetate, and then the bed should 

 be hand-raked to destroy this grass ; a week or ten 

 days later other seeds may vegetate, when another 

 raking is necessary ; and possibly then all seeds have 

 felt the influence of the warmth generated by the 

 underlying stable manure, and the tobacco seed may 

 then be sown. Care is to be taken that the plants 

 are not too much forced, and with this view air is 

 to be admitted freely when necessary. If a bed so 

 constructed does not get the required moisture from 

 rain, it will be seen how convenient it is to water it, 

 passing along the sides with a fine-nozzle watering-pot. 

 If the plants should need any cleansing of spires of 

 gnuRs, it cao bo baadily doae from the eidee without 



stepping on the bed ; and so, when the plants are to 

 be drawn, there is no occasion to place the foot on 

 the bed and damage by bruising. As a substitute 

 for the ashes which tho plants get by the common 

 method of burning, save up from house fires, dry, 

 hard-wood ashes, and give the bed a liberal dressing, 

 to be thoroughly raked in before the tobacco seed 

 are sown, and the ashes will supply all the potash 

 needed for the plants. After the plants are up they 

 may be lightly dusted by the sweepings from the 

 floor of the barn in which the previous crop was 

 handled, and the.se dustings may be increased with 

 the growth of the plants. 



In this issue of the Planter will be seen an advertise- 

 ment of the U. S. Water-Proofing Fibre Company, 

 who claim to have the best material for covering tobacco 

 and vegetable beds ; and we see it recommended by 

 our friend, IMaj. Ragland, of Halifax, who is good 

 authority with the tobacco planters of Virginia, and 

 it is also much approved of by other planters of 

 Virginia, North Carolina, and all the states where 

 tobacco is grown. — Southern Planter. 



THE ORGANIC ELEMENTS OF PLANTS : 



THE SOURCES OF CARBON. 



By B. PuRYEAR, LL.D., Profcssor of Chemistry in 



Richmond College. 

 All plants when perfectly deprived of moisture 

 contain of Carbon about 50 per cent. 

 Oxygen „ 3ti „ 

 Hydrogen „ 6 „ 

 Nitrogen ,, .S ., 



95 



The remaining 5 per cent consists of ash (the in- 

 organic part), which comes exclusively from the soil, 

 and returns to the soil upon the decomposition of 

 the plant. The amount of inorganic matter in plants 

 is frequently less than 5 per cent, and as often more. 

 We simply give 5 per cent as an average statement. 

 As the atmosphere is the primary source of all the 

 organic elements of plants, it will be well, in con- 

 sidering the forms in which plants obtain their 

 organic elements, to notice the composition of the 

 atmosphere. 100 volumes of air contain 

 7916 Nitrogen 

 20-80 Oxygen 

 •04 Carbonic Acid. 



100 



The foregoing table is valuable, showing, at a 

 glance, the relative volumes of the three gases which 

 as a mechanical mixture constitute the atmosphere. 

 There are always present in the atmosphere, how- 

 ever, in small and variable proportions, other gase- 

 ous substances, to which attention will be invited 

 hereafter ; but, for the present, it will be best to 

 limit our attention to the three gases already men- 

 tioned, namely, nitrogen, oxygen, and carbonic acid, 

 which exist in the atmosphere everywhere in the 

 proportions given. 



In what form and from what sources do plants 

 obtain their carbon'.' Evidently, they do not get 

 their carbon in the form of carbon. As an element, 

 carbon does not exist in the atmosphere; and, for 

 a reason as obvious, it cannot come as an element 

 from the soil. Carbon is absolutely insoluble in 

 water, and hence it cannot get into the circulation 

 of the plant in a state of solution. Solids get into 

 plants, but not as solids. The capillary tubes of 

 plants are too small to allow the passage of any 

 solid, however small. When a solid is dissolved it 

 is no longer a solid ; it is as liquid as the water, or 

 other liquid, which has dissolved it. Potash, soda, 

 lime, silica, all solids, are found in the ash of plants : 

 they enter, however, not in the form of solids, but 

 when, and only when, they have been dissolved by 

 the water of the soil. Carbon, being entirely insol- 

 uble, cannot enter in this way. We are safe then 

 in the conclusion that plants do not obtain their 

 carbon, as carbon, either from the atmosphere or 

 i£9iu the ^il' 



