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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



mal matter, and purifies it. Hence, too, its value 

 as a filter. It is of great value to the field, whether 

 mixed with the soil or ajiplied on the surface. It 

 absorl)s largely at common temjjeratures, and when 

 heated by the sun, yields up its atmospheric 

 treasures to assist the growth of })lants and vege- 

 tables. You remember the coal beds on the old 

 farm " down East," where, no matter what the 

 season, or its eH'ect upon the balance of the crop, 

 you were sure to find well-matured corn, a large 

 growth of ])iump wheat, heavy oats, or enormous 

 melons, within the area of the coal bed. Can you 

 recal a time, a season, wdien there was not a 

 marked diflference between the ])roducts of the 

 coal-bed and the rest of the field ? Had you ever 

 investigated the subject ? You remember to have 

 planted cucumbers and melons in your garden, 

 and to have heard some one, noted for his success 

 in growing these luxuries early and large, say that 

 charcoal was a capital manure. You may have 

 tried it with success ; but why were you content 

 with the result ? Why not seek for the reason ? 

 How many lose the benefit of an extended appli- 

 cation from the want of a spirit of inquiry ! We 

 hope the Farmers' Clubs will provoke and develop 



INVESTIGATION. 



Charcoal absorbs offensive odours. Mix it with 

 night soil, and it makes it dry and portable. Saved 

 and applied, this is rendered a most valuable 

 manure. Charcoal has great preservative qualities. 

 It will keep meat pure and sweet a long time; and 

 who has not tried its eflPects in the preservation of 

 the potato ? Who ever saw a watery potato 

 grow on a coal-bed ? Who ever saw small ones 

 grow there ? We never did. Mix it with musty 

 grain, if you have any, or impure meat, and tell 

 us of its effects. Pack meats and vegetables in it, 

 and they will not soon decay. It is a most un- 

 changeable substance; hence posts, charred at the 

 bottom, do not decay as soon as otherwise when 

 set in the ground. Liquids passed through it 

 lose their colouring and bitter or astringent flavour. 

 Sugar refiners decolourize their brown syrups with 

 its assistance. 



Thus, while we have not strictly departed from 

 the text, we have given you some facts which may 

 be of great value to you. We have deviated from 

 our intended course, but our aim is to make these 

 articles as plain, practical, and valuable as possi- 

 ble. 



Remember that we have said, the organic 

 portion of plant? consists of carbon, oxygen, hydro- 

 gen, and nitrogen. Water is composed of hydro- 

 gen and oxygen. Then water feeds the plant with 

 these two gases. Burn the plant, and these gases 

 escape in the form of vapour, which, condensed, 

 falls to the earth as rain. You may desire to 

 know something of the character of these gases 

 abstractly. Oxygen is heavier than the atmosphere ; 

 it is a colourless gas, has neither taste nor smell ; 

 inhaled by animals, its effects are exhilarating and 

 exciting. We have seen it given to individuals for 

 the purpose of exhibiting its effects upon their 

 action. In some cases the most extraordinary 

 movements are made. It is, of course, injurious, 

 and were we to inhale only oxygen, we would soon 

 be unable to inhale anything. About one-fifth 



of the air, one-third of the ocean, and one-half of 

 the solid earth are oxygen. 



We extract the following passage from one of 

 Johnston's lectures : " But the quantity of this 

 substance, which is stored up in the solid rocks, is 

 still more remarkable. Nearly one-half of the 

 weight of the solid rocks, which compose the crust 

 of our globe, of every solid substance we see around 

 us — of the houses in which we live, and of the 

 stones on which we tread ; of the soils which you 

 daily cultivate, and much more than one-half of 

 the weight of the bodies of all living animals and 

 plants — consists of this elementary hody, oxygen, 

 known to us, as I have already said, only in the 

 state of a gas. It may not appear surprising that 

 any one elementary substance should have been 

 formed by the Creator in such abundance as to 

 constitute nearly one-half, by weight, of the entire 

 crust of the globe ; but it must strike you as re- 

 markable, that this should also be the element on 

 the presence of which all animal life depends, and 

 as nothing less wonderful, that a substance, which 

 we know only in the state of thin air, should, by 

 some wonderful me-^hanism, be bound up and 

 imprisoned in such vast stores in the solid moun- 

 tains of the globe, be destined to pervade and re- 

 fresh all nature in the form of water, and to 

 beautify and adorn the earth in the solid parts of 

 animals and plants. But all nature is full of 

 similar wonders ; and every step you advance in the 

 study of the principles of the art by which you live, 

 you will not fail to mark the united skill and bounty 

 of the same great Contriver." 



Oxygen supports combustion, and all substances 

 which burn in the open air burn in it (oxygen) 

 with far greater brilliancy. We have said that 

 plants exhale oxygen imder the influence of sun- 

 light, and we suggest a simple experiment 

 by which this exhalation may be made perceptible. 



Let a sprig of mint be placed in a white glass 

 globe, which is then to be filled quite full of spring 

 water, and the mouth inverted in a tumbler of 

 water, it is then to be placed in the direct rays of 

 the sun, and in a short time bubbles of gas will 

 be seen collecting in the upper part of the glass, 

 which is nearly pure oxygen. 



Hydrogen is fourteen times lighter than the 

 atmosphere and sixteen times lighter than oxygen, 

 being the lightest substance known. It is com- 

 bustible, but does not support combustion. The 

 affinity of oxygen and hydrogen is very great, yet 

 they do not combine spontaneously. Hydrogen is 

 colourless, and does not support life. Animals die 

 and plants wither when introduced into it. It is 

 not necessary to the growth of plants. United 

 with oxygen, it becomes water or the protoxide of 

 hydrogen. Water is an essential to the plant, but 

 Nature has provided an ample supply. It is our 

 province to regulate and modify this supply. Irri- 

 gation at the proper time is an immense stimulant, 

 or, more properly, fertilizer. But our best soils, 

 the most durable and rehable, require drainage, and 

 provision for feeding the plant with only the amount 

 of water needed, and disposing of the surplus. 

 We need write no "apostrophe to water." It may 

 be of use and abuse. It is both used and abused. 

 Let us learn to use it. 



