236 



FAKMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 5 



ffetation, The 20lh of May, the cane sugar evi- 

 dently prednminaieil; but the 4th of Jane, when 

 the ears beiran to bloom, the .«tems gave a rotation 

 tovvardri the leir, and af'terwardej preserved this ro- 

 tation, siiowiiig that the cane sugar had become 

 much less' abundant in the stern. 



Theleavesgave very different results; forthough 

 they contained three substances, the cane sugar 



by lodging from heavy rain and wind. M. Biot'a 

 experiments, from his well-known high character 

 for rigid accuracy, are therefore well calculated to 

 give iarmers confidence in cutting down theircorn, 

 as soon as the lower leaves and the lower part of 

 the stems are yellow and dry, though the upper 

 parts he green.* 

 Again, as the leaves and stems of plants, while 



was proportionably much greater than th,e grape i green, contain sugar and other carbonaceous ma- 

 sugar, the contrary of" what was found in the siem; j terials for nourishing the seeds and bringing them 



and instead of the third substance being gum 

 tnrniny to the left, it produced a rotation towards 

 th^ right, appearing in fact to be dextrine. The 

 leaves of wheat continue to preserve the same 

 composition till they begin to grow yellow and 

 wither, an effect that unilbrmly commences at the 

 tip of a leaf; and on the leaf nearest the root; but 

 after this, scarcely a trace of sugar or dextrine can 



to maturity, it follows that, if they are in this state 

 ploughed down into the soil, they must greatly en- 

 rich it with all the products ready prepared for the 

 nourishment of plants. 



It has been proved, indeed, by other experiments 

 previous to those of M. Eiot, that the leaves and 

 all the green parts of plants, decompose the car- 

 bonic acid gas of the air, appropriating the carbon 



be Ibund in ihem, all, it would appear, having j and setting fi-ee the oxygen; and hence it has been 



gradually passed into the stem to nourish the ear, 

 in the sanje way as the carbonaceous materials ol 

 the leaves of trees descend untler the layers of the 

 inner bark and pulp wood (^alburnum), to nourish 

 the young cylinder of wood and bark, which, si- 

 milar to a hollow stem of wheat, is annually Ibrm- 

 ed, and moulds itself upon the old li'ame work of 

 the wood. 



In wiieat, therefore, as well as in rye, the base 

 of the stems can derive nourishment partly ti-om 

 the leaves and partly from the soil, and the sum- 

 mit of the stem can draw nourishment from its 

 own leaves, as well as suck up the sap from below; 

 but the ear, when it issues from tlie sheath, ap- 

 pears to exercise on the proper juices of the top of 

 the plant a powerful absorption, causing them to 

 rise rapidly in proportion as they are furnished by 

 the base ol the stem. 



The 4ih of June, M. Biot took plants of wheat 

 in liill bloom, and depriving the stems of their 

 leaves, parted them into halves, the tops in one 

 parcel and the bases in another. The extracts 

 from the base, when examined by polarization, in- 

 dicated almost twice as much sugar as the ex- 

 tracts of the tops of equal density; and at the same 

 time he found, that the saccharine principles 

 abounded in the ears of the wheat, in the form of" 

 cane sugar and sugar of starch, together with a 

 eubslance similar to, if not identical with, dex- 

 trine. 



Ripening nf Corn, and Ploughing of Green 

 Crops for Manure. — In proportion, it has just 

 been shown, as the fecundated ear increases in 

 magnitude, the leaves near the root begin to grow 

 yellow and dry, in consequence of the stem draw- 

 ing from them the carbonaceous materials which 

 they contain. As the growth advances, the base 

 of the stem becomes yellow and dry in its turn, 

 while the upper part remains green, and continues 

 to nourish the ear. 



These beautiful researches of M. Biot, afford 

 interesting explanations of several agricultural 

 practices hitherto not well understood, at least in a 

 scientific point of view. For example, when the 

 base of the stem begins to become yellow and dry, 

 if the corn be then cut down, though the grain is 

 not ripe, it will continue to be nourished at the ex- 

 pense of the green matter in the upper part of the 

 stem, almost, if not quite as vvell, as if it had re- 

 mained uncut, and will thus ripen well; while, 

 having been thus cut down early, much loss from 

 shaking is prevented, besides the chance of loss 



inferred, that the carbon thus derived contributes 

 to form their mass of sugar and gum, additional to 

 the sap absorbed from the soil by their roots. This 

 view is corroborated by the difference which JVl. 

 Biot has shown between the composition of the 

 leaves of wheat and the stem, which is more es- 

 pecially supplied from the soil. Il^ then, a portion 

 of the solid ll'ame-work of plants is derived from 

 the air in the Ibrm of carbon, the ploughing down 

 of green crops lor the purpose of manure, gives to 

 the soil more than the plants, while grovving, had 

 extracted Irom it. 



We may well conclude with M. Biot, that 

 "every positive determination in science is suscep- 

 tible of progress and of useful application, though 

 these may be distant. A microscopical observa- 

 tion, or an optical property, which at first appears 

 only curious and abstract, may thus in time be- 

 come important to agriculturists and manuliiclur- 



BAKING BREAD BY STEAM. 



About twelve months ago we inserted a para- 

 graph, stating that a machine had been invented 

 in America, which could manufacture a ton weight 

 of ffour biscuits in an hour. This gave rise to much 

 conversation at the time; and we must confess we 



* It is a good practice to cut clown every kind of 

 grain before it is fully ripe in the grain or the straw, 

 and that for the reasons just enumerated in the text. 

 But, as M. Biot's observations and common practice do 

 not exactly agree as to the symptoms which determine 

 the time of cutting, it is as well to notice the differ- 

 ence. In a fine season, farmers cut down when they 

 find the neck of the straw, Immediatply under the ear, 

 free of juice, when twisted round between the finger 

 and thumb; and donotwait until "the lowerpart of the 

 stems are yellow and dry," because they find in such a 

 season the straw to die from the ear downwards. This 

 fact, we conceive, does not militate against M. Biot's 

 theory, for as the absorbing power of the ear at the top 

 of the stem is always powerful, it must be the more 

 powerful the nearer the ear approaches maturity, and 

 of course, the part of the stem nearest the ear should 

 first become dry. In a bad season, on the other hand, 

 the lower part of the stem first becomes yellow and 

 dry, after which, of course, the crop is not allowed to 

 stand; for, in such a season, the ear never becomes 

 mature, having, of course, less absorptive power, 

 whilst the vitality of the root is early destroyed by the 

 combined effects of bad weather and ungenial state of 

 the soil. — Editor. 



