182 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CHEMICAL DEPARTMENT. 



Nitrogen 

 Total Ash 



The whole condition of the plants at this stage is indicative 

 of their progress towards maturity. The water and albuminous 

 compounds in the stalks have undergone a further decrease, and 

 the woody fibre has increased. The leaves have also lost water, 

 a portion of them having become dry, withered, and decayed. 

 The mineral matters contained in them are also much larger in 

 amount, but this is due to sand mechanically adhering to them, 

 which it was impossible to remove, in consequence of their de- 

 cayed state. The pods had also become much drier, and the 

 albuminous compounds and other organic matters contained in 

 them had undergone a proportionate increase. 



The most conspicuous change in the ash of the stalks and 

 leaves is the diminution in the per centage of phosphoric acid, 

 which has been withdrawn from them to supply the wants of the 

 pods. The transference of the different mineral matters, how- 

 ever, is most distinctly seen in the table giving the total quanti- 

 ties contained in the acreable produce. It thus appears that 

 there has been a remarkable increase in the proportion of potash, 

 which has risen from 22-15 to 35'48 lbs., of which the greater 

 part is now accummulated in the pods. This increase in the 

 quantity of potash is very puzzling, for it is confined to that 

 element. The phosphoric acid is the same as it was in the 

 fourth stage, the relative quantities being 33 - 09 and 33 - 77 lbs., 

 while the amount of lime has decreased. It is possible that, 

 had we examined the plants at some period between the 1st 

 September and 7th October, some explanation of a fact which is 

 now unintelligible might have been discovered. 



The total quantity of nitrogen contained in the plants at this 

 stage has diminished, no doubt owing to the decay of the leaves, 

 and the distribution of what remains has materially altered, more 

 than one half of it being now contained in the pods. 



6th Stage, 8th November, 1864. 



The continued rain , of the month of October, proved most 

 unfavourable to the crop, and so protracted the process of ripen- 

 ing, that it was not till the 8th November that it was ready for 

 the sickle, a period which, it is scarcely necessary to say, was 

 far later than that at which the crop would be harvested in 

 ordinary seasons. The average height of the plants was 1 or 2 

 inches greater than in October, but little weight is to be attached 

 to a difference such as this. The leaves had now almost en- 

 tirely decayed away, and only a few blackened and moist frag- 

 ments hung on the stems. The beans, being ripe, were sepa- 



