JQ5 On Wsiitg Lime for Compost. [March, 



form, by successive accumulations, a new vegetable structure. In ad- 

 dition to the proper /ooc? of plants, the different species of the vege- 

 table kingdom require various inorganic substances for their full 

 and perfect development. The silica found in the stems of the cereal 

 and gramineous plants, and the phosphate and carbonate of lime, 

 which is essential to the perfection of all kinds of grain, are familiar 

 examples. Soils, therefore, must be capable of supplying to the roots 

 of plants, not only the substances which afford their proper food, but 

 likewise the several inorganic substances which the particular species 

 of plants under cultivation may require ; and it is not only necessary 

 that the soil should contain in itself all the substances which may be 

 required for the production of any given vegetable, but these sub- 

 stances must be present and exist in such a state, that they may be 

 capable of being absorbed and assimilated by the roots of plants ; for 

 instance, silica may be abundant in the soil, but unless some alkali 

 be present to dissolve it, it can not be absorbed or assimilated by the 

 plants. So also with humus ; if it be in an insoluble state, the plants 

 can not absorb it, and appropriate its component parts to the formation 

 of a new plant; but so soon as air, moisture, or an alkali comes in 

 contact with the humus, it is rapidly dissolved and assumes a form 

 in which the roots are enabled to absorb and appropriate it. So it is 

 -with other substances; manure can not be absorbed by plants in its 

 gross state; it requires to undergo a certain degree of fermentation 

 and putrefaction before its constituents can be taken up by plants ; 

 and even then, it may be so combined with acids or other substances, 

 as to be thereby rendered incapable of affording nourishment to plants 

 until lime or some other alkaline substance has been applied to neu- 

 tralize the acids, or change the character of the substances, so as to 

 make them soluble, and convert them into a state proper to be ab- 

 sorbed by the roots of plants. 



We are indebted to the Noaehian deluge for a great many blessings, 

 besides the ostensible one recorded in scripture, of purifying the 

 world from its iniquities of mankind. To the powerful effects of this 

 mighty rush of waters, we are chiefly indebted for the pulverization 

 of the various rock formations, and their transportation and distribu- 

 tion over the whole surface of the globe, forming those soils which 

 the geologists have termed diluvial. To this deluge we are indebted 

 for the universal dispersion over the globe, of the various kinds of 

 plants, and of the diffusion and incorporation of humus throughout 

 all the soils which cover the surface of the earth." 



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