THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



419 



poured upon it, there will not be found in the 

 filtered water a trace of potash, and, only under 

 certain circumstances, silicic acid. If freshly pre- 

 cipitated phosphate of lime or phosphate of mag- 

 nesia be dissolved in water saturated with carbonic 

 acid, and filtered in like manner through soil, 

 there will not be found a trace of phosphoric acid 

 in the filtered water. A solution of phosphate of 

 lime in dilute sulphuric acid, or of phosphate of 

 magnesia and ammonia in carbonic acid water, 

 composts itself in the same manner. The phos- 

 phoric acid in each case remains in the soil. Char- 

 coal reacts in a similar manner with many soluble 

 salts ; in this case, it is a chemical attraction acting 

 from its surface, but in the soil its constituents 

 take part in the action." This remarkable property 

 is not found to exist when solutions of substances 

 are used which do not furnish food to plants; it 

 is in their case especially that this wonderful pro- 

 perty exists in the soil. 



The value of these interesting facts is immense. 

 As a purifying agent there is nothing better nor so 

 cheap as clay, which possesses this power in a 

 high degree. In the collection of hcjuid manure 

 in tanks, the decomposition and escape of am- 

 moniacal vapours may be wholly arrested by using 

 clay as an absorbent ; and until the soil becomes 

 saturated with these substances, the liquid that 

 passes through is iound to be devoid of smell ; all 

 the rich jilant-food has been left in the compost. 

 When one change of soil has become saturated, 

 another should be inti'oduced. 



Liquid manures, especially when largely diluted 

 with water, are found to be highly serviceable ; 

 certain elements of the food of plants are thus 

 carried to the soil ; other matters equally needed 

 by vegetable organizations are not soluble, and 

 cannot be thus conveyed. The impression which 

 has prevailed, that all plant food must be reduced 

 to a liquid form to enter the little root- mouths 

 {spoiKjioles) is perhaps erroneous. Water is needed 

 as food, and is absorbed as water ; other sub- 

 stances, soluble in this menstruum, are conveyed 

 into the organism with it ; but Liebig contends 

 that the roots have the power of taking in these 

 matters without their previous solution. He says 

 that " We have supposed the food was carried in 

 soliuion in rain water and carbonic acid to the 

 roots of plants, which were thus like sponges, half 

 in the moist ground, half in the air, continuously 

 absorbing by their roots and evaporating by their 

 leaves. Whatever was in solution passed with the 

 water into the roots, and by the process of nutri- 

 tion was appropriated by the plants. The soil and 

 the plant both being passive, * * * ^ve be- 

 lieved that the water was the carrier of the most re- 

 mote elements of the soil to the immediate presence 

 of the plant. * * * But all this has been a 

 great mistake." 



Examinations of rain water that has passed 

 through the soil and collected by drainage, of 

 spring water, and of river water, show that they 

 do not take up those substances that are known 

 as plant-food in any considerable quantity. — 

 " These substances are i)resent in the soil, in a 

 condition fit for absorption by the rootlets of 

 plants, though not themselves soluble or removable 



by the rain water, until the soil is saturated with 

 them. It is more than probable that the majority 

 of our cultivated plants receive their nourishment 

 directly from those portions of the soil which are 

 in immediate contact with their rootlets, and that 

 they die when their food is presented to them in 

 solution. The action of concentrated manures, 

 burning the young plants, seems^to support this 

 supposition." 



* * * It follows that the plants must them- 

 selves play some peculiar part in the absorption of 

 their food. As organized living structures, their 

 existence is not quite dependent on external causes. 



* * Mt They select from the soil those sub- 

 stances which they I'equire, but which can only 

 pass into their interior by the co-operation of a 

 cause which resides within their rootlets. * * 

 It is very difficult to explain in what way plants 

 act in causing the solution of mineral substances. 

 As a matter of course, water is indisjjensable in the 

 operation." 



(ireen manures have been highly extolled, and 

 not without cause. Though they can add nothing 

 to the mineral wealth of the soil, they add car- 

 bonaceous and nitrogenous matters, having col- 

 lected the elements from the atmosphere ; fuither, 

 they bring up mineral matters from the subsoil, 

 which they penetrate with their long roots, and in 

 their decay they enrich the upper soil for the use 

 of cereals and such other plants as chiefly oc- 

 cupy this portion as their range in search of food. 

 It will be readily guessed that annual plants need 

 to have their food more accessible than perennials 

 — such as trees, which have a wide and deep 

 range. 



Before concluding this paper, I ask to thank 

 one of the members for his kind assistance in 

 preparing this I'eport. Mr. D. B. Pierson is, as 

 you all know, deeply interested in whatever con- 

 cerns the advance of horticulture. He is a good 

 observer, and has proved himself a good prac- 

 titioner in the art of preparing the soil, so that 

 it shall produce good crops. From a communi- 

 cation, addressed to the Chair, your committee 

 have condensed the following practical recom- 

 mendations : 



" Guano, when properly pulverized and evenly 

 scattered over grass lands or well cultivated 

 grounds just before the fall rains, produces a 

 marked effect upon the crops of the following 

 season. The residuum from glue factories, and 

 that from the rendering establishments (bones) 

 have highly fertilizing properties, and may be 

 applied upon ploughed or trenched ground in the . 

 fall, or composted with an equal bulk of stable 

 manure, or sod, or loam, to be applied at con- 

 venience. These substances should be applied 

 with caution." 



He also highly recommends the manure pit, into 

 which all refuse matters should be thrown, with 

 alternating layers' of sods or loam, leaves, leaf- 

 mould, stable manure, &c., and the whole to be 

 moistened by a pipe from the. kitchen sink to bring 

 all waste water from that department — (the drain 

 from the water-closet should also terminate here). 

 He thinks this application of hquid would prevent 

 fermentation, and that if the mass did ferment, the 



