154 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



NUTRITION OF PLANTS. 



INFLUENCE OF THE PHOSPHATE OF LIME OF MANURES UPON VEGETABLE 



PRODUCTION. 



Translated expressly for the ^^ Mark Lane Express" from the French of Boussingault, 



By F. R. de la Trehonnais. 



la a paper communicated to the Academy of Sciences 

 at the meeting of the llth of May last, I showed the 

 influence which the soluble nitrogen of manures exercises 

 upon vegetable production, when it is united with phos- 

 phate of lime and alkaline salts; bat to appreciate com- 

 pletely the importance of calcareous salt, there remained 

 to determine how a nitrogenous manure would act upon 

 vegetation without the help of phosphate of lime. To 

 clear that point, I have cultivated plants in a soil of 

 pure and calcined quartz, to which had been added 

 either nitrate of potash or carbonate of ammonia, taking 

 care to remove every trace of phosphate. 



As the cultivation of these plants was to take place in 

 the open air, it was necessary to determine the share 

 which the soluble nitrogenous principles of the atmos- 

 phere should bring into the results, by cultivating com- 

 paratively in a soil destitute of organic matters the same 

 kind of plants which were to be grown with the exclusive 

 help of the nitrate of potash or the ammoniacal salt. I 

 took advantage of that necessity to study with the 

 greatest attention the gradual development of Ileli- 

 anthuses, when, on account of the absolute bareness of 

 the soil upon which they grew, they absorbed from the 

 atmosphere all the elements of their organization. 



I showed in my first paper, that in such conditions of 

 existence, a plant, endowed at first with a certain 

 vigour, rapidly fades and declines as soon as the coty- 

 ledons are withered ; then the green parts become dis- 

 coloured, the leaves that first opened fading away as soon 

 as new ones appear. From that time it is easily per- 

 ceived that new organs are formed at the expense of 

 others that wither and die. These are the true signs 

 that there is no manure in the soil. It appeared to me 

 interesting to determine the weight of the matter 

 developed at the various phases of that languishing and 

 sickly vegetation in a plant, wliose diseased condition is 

 not perhaps without some analogy to that languid state 

 to which younff animals are reduced from want of 

 proper nourishment. 



First Experiment. — Vegetation of IFelianthuses in 



the Open Air, in a Soil of Calcined Quart zy Sand, 



containing Phosphate of Lime and Vegetable A^hes. 



Four flower-pots, previously washed and calcined at 



a red heat, were filled up with the prepared soil. In 



each of them, No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, two seeds of 



Helianthuses, weighing 1-7.32 grains, were deposited. 



Twenty-one days after, the plants were about 3 inches 

 in height ; the two first leaves were developed ; the 

 second leaves commenced to appear; the cotyledons 

 were of a pale green colour. 



The plants in pot No. 1 were removed : after being 

 dryed, they weighed 4-7275 grs. The two plants, the 

 flower-pot, and the soil were then analyzed, and the fol- 

 lowing quantities of nitrogen were found. 



Nitrogen. 

 Grains. 



lu the two plants 005 115 



In the soil 00279 



Total 005394 



lu the seeds there was 005146 



Gain in nitrogen during twenty-one days of 



vegetation in the open air, by the two plants 000248 

 Gain by a single plant 00124 



After thirty-one days' growth, the plants remaining 

 in pots Nos. 2, 3, and 4 were about 4 in. high. The 

 second leaves were developed ; the cotyledons dis- 

 coloured and withered ; the third leaves were spotted at 

 their extremities. 



The plants in pot No. 2 were removed, and after 

 being dried, weighed C0450 grs. The soil and the 

 plants were analyzed as before, and gave the following 

 results :— 



Nitrogen. 

 Grains. 



In the two plants 0-05015 



In the soil 001829 



Total ; 06844 



lu the aeeds there was 05146 



Nitrogen gained in thirty-three days of vege- 

 tation in the open air, by the two plants. . 001698 



By one single plant 000849 



After fifty-two days, the Helianthuses No. 3 and 4 

 were, the one 6 the other only 65 inches high. The 

 first leaves were withered ; the second leaves much 

 spotted; the third leaves were already 2-16 eighths of 

 an inch long. 



The plants of pot No. 3 were removed ; on being 

 dried up they weighed 7-13 gr. 



Analysis as above showed the following results : — 



Nitrogen. 



la the two plants 052545 



Inthesoil 0-031155 



Total 0083700 



There was in the seeds 051460 



Nitrogen gained in fifty-t;voday8 of vegetation, by 



the two plauta 032240 



By one plant 0016120 



After seventy-two days the remaining Helianthuses, in 

 pot No. 4, had reached a height of 5i inches. The 

 first and second leaves were entirely withered. The 

 third leaves were much spotted, and of a pale green 

 colour; the largest was about 1} inch long and ^ inch 

 broad. The fourth leaves, still very small, surrounded a 

 floral bud. 



On being dried up, these plants weighed G51 gr., 

 something less than plants in pot No. 3, removed twenty 

 days before ; whence it may be concluded, that during 

 that interval the Helianthuses had made but very little 

 progress indeed. 



A.nalysis as before brought out the following re- 

 sult! :— 



