154 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



year in almost every hill where potatoes had been planted. 

 The explanation, as I apprehend it, was, that plaster was put 

 upon the potatoes when they were growing. Whence came the 

 seed, how or in what way it originated, or where the germ came 

 from, I know not, but the fact I do know as a matter of ocular 

 demonstration. 



A few facts of that kind will go to show that the nourishing 

 elements of plants may come, to a certain extent, from the 

 atmosphere, but they come mostly from the soil, and that soil 

 must be adapted in its nature and character to the condition of 

 the plant that grows upon it. 



Last evening I was greatly interested in the lecture upon 

 Utah. In that lecture Prof. Chadbourne stated that since the 

 Mormons settled there and commenced their system of irriga- 

 tion, Salt Lake had risen year after year, until it had risen many 

 feet. You will recollect that he said that Prof. Henry had sug- 

 gested that the theory that trees produced moisture was not well 

 founded, and that perhaps the professor was right. It seemed 

 to me that he refuted the theory suggested by Prof. Henry, be- 

 cause here were rows of trees set, here were grass and vegeta- 

 bles growing, and these combined, as absorbers of moisture, 

 would have a greater effect than a forest, — at least in my appre- 

 hension. It seems to me, therefore, that so far from weakening 

 the theory that forests produce moisture, the statements of the 

 lecturer corroborate and strengthen that position. And in con- 

 nection with that matter, I will say that I believe time will show 

 that the effects of the tornadoes that sweep over our Western 

 States may be to a great extent averted by the planting of belts 

 of wood, and that the terrible drouths to which they are subject 

 may also be avoided, to a considerable extent, by the same 

 means. And I do not speak in relation to this matter without 

 confirmation from high authority, because one of the greatest 

 writers of Prance — Chaptal — corroborates that idea in the 

 position that he takes in relation to the effect upon climate of 

 the cultivation of the soil. We read, many of us, in our youth, 

 of the desert of Sahara, over which, it was said, nothing but hot 

 winds blew ; but further examination has shown that, instead 

 of being a vast desert, entirely barren, it has broad oases or 

 fertile spots in it, and who can say that the time will not come 

 when even that desert may be made to blossom as the rose, and 



