DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



435 



essay on Indian corn, by Mr. Salisbury, giving an 

 accurate analysis of the composition of every part 

 of the plant." 



I have been anxious to obtain the analysis of 

 the corn, or corn (lour. If you can oblige me by 

 transmitting to me, or through the medium of the 

 Horticulture' , that portion of the analysis. I should 

 feel obliged; and I am your ob't serv't, Jas. 

 Paul. Trenton, N. J., Feb. 14, 1850. 



Answer.— Mr. Salisbury's excellent essay oc- 

 cupies nearly 300 8vo. pages; and the analyses 

 of twentv varieties of corn are given. As the 

 common 8-rowed yellow corn may be taken, as a 

 sort generally cultivated at the north, we annex 

 his analysis of that sort. 



Analysis of the whole Kernel. 



Starch, 50.64 



Sugar and extract, 7.46 



Sugar, 1 50 



Fibre 6.28 



Matter separated from fibre, 0.05 



Albumen, 8.64 



Casein, 1 70 



Gluten or zein, 4.56 



Oil, i 4.60 



Dextrine or gum, 4.84 



Water, 10-22 



(In 100 parts, or) 100.48 



Analysis of the ash. of Kernel. 



Carbonic acid, trace. 



Silicic acid, 1-450 



Sulphuric acid, 0.206 



Phosphoric acid, 50.955 



Phosphate of iron, 4.355 



Lime, 0.150 



Magnesia, 16.520 



Potash, 8.2S6 



Soda 10.90S 



Chloride of sodium, 0.249 



Organic acids, 3.100 



(In 100 parts, or) 97.000 



The ash of the kernel is nearly three parts of 

 the whole. Of course, the analysis of the stalks 

 and leaves are quite different, and we have not 

 room for more. But we cannot deny ourselves 

 the pleasure of extracting the following remarks 

 by Mr. S., on the inorganic manures necessary to 

 the cornfield, as they are of practical value to 

 every one who cultivates a hill of corn. Ed. 



" We see by the (various foregoing) analyses 

 that the several inorganic bodies removed from 

 the soil by a crop of maize, rank as follows: Com- 

 mencing with the highest, — silicic acid, soda, phos- 

 phoric acid and potash, sulphuric acid, magnesia 

 and chlorine, lime and iron. 



" The aggregate amount of inorganic bodies 

 taken from an acre of land, annually, by a stout crop 

 of maize, is by no means so large as is generally 

 supposed ; and yet it is sufficiently so to exhaust 

 the best soil, in a brief period of years, of some of 

 those bodies which act so essential a part in the 

 constitution of the plant. The amount, generally, 

 would not exceed 600 lbs. Indeed, it would, in 

 a majority of cases, fall short of this. In some 

 instances, however, of an inordinately stout growth 

 of some of the larger varieties, it might even go 

 up to 1000 lbs. ; but such cases would rarely oc- 

 cur. 600 lbs. may then be assumed as the quan- 



tity ordinarily removed from an acre of land by 

 a stout crop of maize ; or what would be a better 

 criterion to follow, 100 lbs. of inorganic matter 

 for every ten of dry produce. Of this, about one- 

 third is silicic acid, one-sixth soda, one-eighth 

 potash, one-eighth phosphoric acid, one-twelfth 

 sulphuric acid, one-eighteenth magnesia, one- 

 eighteenth chlorine, and one-eighteenth lime and 

 iron. 



(i The silicic acid is mainly removed by the 

 straw or leaves, sheaths, and stalks. There is 

 generally an abundance of this body in the soil; 

 it only being necessary to secure the presence of 

 a sufficiency of the alkalies to form with this acid 

 enouah of its soluble salts to meet the demands of 

 the plant. 



<: Thepotash and soda enter quite largely into the 

 composition of all parts of the plant ; but more so 

 into that of the stalks, grain, and cobs, than of the 

 other portions. Soils, though they ordinarily con- 

 tain considerable of these two bodies, yet they 

 generally have a quantity by far too small to sup- 

 ply the lavish demands of this plant for any great 

 length of time. 



"Phosphoric acid enters largely into the grain, 

 and quite largely into the cob and stalk. It con- 

 stitutes about one-eighth of the ash of the entire 

 plant. Soils are commonly deficient in this acid; 

 or at least they contain much less of it than al- 

 most any of the other inorganic bodies which enter 

 into the composition of plants. The quantity usu- 

 ally removed from an acre of land, annually, by a 

 good crop of maize, is from 60 to 75 lbs., or from 

 10 to 12 and 13 lbs. per ton of dry produce. 



" Sulphuric acid, from the quantity taken away 

 by a crop, seems to be an essential ingredient of 

 this plant. It enters more largely into the leaves, 

 stalks, and sheaths, than into the grain. From 

 45 to 60 lbs. are removed by the annual produce 

 of an acre, or from 7^ to 11 lbs. per ton of dry 

 plants. 



" By referring to the foregoing calculations, we 

 notice that the magnesia is removed from the 

 soil in larger proportions than the lime; or in 

 other words, the maize plant requires more of 

 the former than of the latter. This is by no 

 means an uninteresting feature. About 16 per 

 cent, of the ash of the grain is magnesia, while 

 the same ash has usually less than one per cent, 

 of lime. The magnesia in the kernels is usually 

 in the state of a phosphate. Lime enters more 

 largely into all parts of the plant except the 

 o-rain and cob than magnesia; yet the aggregate 

 amount of the latter in the whole plant is greater 

 than the former. Hence there is evidently as 

 much necessity of adding magnesia to the soil, for 

 the maize crop, as lime; and even more, if one 

 of these bodies can be said to rank in importance 

 before the other ; since it enters so largely into 

 the composition of the seed, constituting about 

 one-sixth of its ash. 



" Lime is often added to soils in considerable 

 quantity, and has ever been considered ' the basis 



