370 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 6 



-^-},|lh, iind of this neiirly one-holl' iy carbonic acid, 

 whicii is oxyseii and cnrlton. 



Hence, ii plant may be considered as composed 

 ol' carbon and hydrogen, with oxygen in a far less 

 proportion than either. 



(Suppose we taive pine-wood instead of oak: the 

 only diderence 'vil! be, that from the resin of the 

 pine we shall obtain more carhuretted hydrogen 

 by means of a red heat, but the elements, of the 

 plant will be the same ; and so will it be whate- 

 ver plant we take for the experiment. In tliis ana- 

 lysis nothing is lost. The whole plant, decom- 

 posed into its elements, is there. Hence, if a 

 plant contain nothing as a uniibrm and constant 

 jiart of it, but carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, and 

 about ToVn'^^ P'^'''- of potash, nothing can afford 

 nourishment to a plant; but what is decomposa- 

 ble into carbon, hydroijen, and oxygen, either 

 spontaneously when exposed to the atmosphere, 

 or by the action ol" the vegetable organs of the 

 plant itself 



It is true, in some plants already mentioned, 

 and which contain gluten and albumen, niiroiren 

 becomes a constituent part; this can be furnished 

 either by the atmosphere, or by animal manure. 



We nmke use of chemical reasoninij and che- 

 mical terms, and we call in the aid of physiology, 

 because we are not addressing ourselves to the 

 servant who ploughs the ground, but to his mas- 

 ter. It is in vain to suppose that the theory of 

 husbandry can be understood by a man who is 

 not well acquainted with the elements ol" chemistry 

 and physiology. This last most useful branch of 

 knowledge, is stranirely neglected in our colleges 

 and universities; although it lays at the root of 

 all physics, o! all metaphysics, and of every dis- 

 quisition relating to the nature of animals and ve- 

 getables. The wairon loads of words without 

 meaning, that an accurate knowledge of the ele- 

 ments of" physiology would enable us to dispense 

 with, is truly astonishing. But, d nos inoutons. 

 Under what forms, when applied, are carbon, 

 hydrogen and oxygen taken into a plant as nutri- 

 ment? 



What parts of the plant does nature employ for 

 ihe purpose? 



Hazenlratz and Kirwan were both persuaded 

 that (iarbon was the chief pabulum of plants. It 

 is true, that wc procure Ji-om 20 to 25 per cent, of 

 charcoal, and that the carbon in the condensed li- 

 quor, and in the gases obtained, is considerable: 

 but, we should probably mistake, in ascribing 

 more than one-half ot" the weight of a plant to 

 carbon; the hydrogen and the water (hydrogen 

 and oxygen) will, probably, make up the other 

 half. 



Carbon alone, whether applied in the shape of 

 charcoal, coal, or soot, is utierly indecomposable. 

 Sir H. Davy says he dissolved a small part ol' 

 charcoal in water in a tube hermetically sealed: 

 but the only experiment really worth noticing, is 

 one by Arthur Young, who dissolved charcoal by 

 boiling it in a solution of carbonate of potash; in 

 which form, it was a most powerful manure. I 

 know of no way in which it can become part of 

 the food of" plants, but when taken up by the roots 

 in its nascent state of extrication, by decomposi- 

 tion of" the substances, fluids, or gases containing 

 it, or by the decomposition of atmospherical car- 

 bonic, acid by the leaves; which, indeed, is the 

 great source of its supply. 



Hydrogen is found in connexion with water^ 

 and almost every other decomposable sul>slance 

 actmg as a manure, whether producing fluids or 

 gases. 



Nor is there any difficulty in accounting for oxy- 

 gen contained in plants, so abundant on every 

 side are the sources of it. 



But let us examine the most usual manures of 

 nutriment. 



Stable-yard manure. — As this has been a vege- 

 table before, there can be no difficulty in conceiv- 

 ing that it may become a vegetable again. It 

 has either fermented into the soluble butyraceous 

 mass of the old fiirm-yard management, or it 

 is employed fresh, and permitted to undergo a 

 gradual decomposilion in the soil. In the first 

 method, it acts sooner, and in the same quan- 

 tity more efficaciously: but this management of" a 

 dung-heap, occasions a losti^ of" at least one-half 

 of" the niUritious matter, dissipated in the various 

 gases that are extricated, or permitted to run away 

 by the rains falling on the dung-heap. Kvery 

 such heap of duno- should have a covering over 

 it, to preserve it from excessive heat and from 

 moisture. 



The great advantage of a long previous fer- 

 mentation of the dung, especially when mixed 

 with fresh lime, is to kill the seeds of iveeds, 

 which the mere digestive powers of horses and 

 cattle are unable to efl'ect. In every other re- 

 spect, the most advantageous and economical use 

 of" dung, is to plough it under ground in its fresh 

 and recent stale. 



Night-soil: — Beyond all doubt the most pow- 

 erful and efficacious of all manures. It would be 

 no exaggeration to say, that if the economy used 

 by the Chinese, or even by the French and other 

 inhabitants of the continent of Europe, were 

 used in America, at least ten nfillions worth of 

 produce miirht be added to the crops of this coun- 

 try. In France, the fosses dWisancc inodores, and 

 the dried night-soil sold as a poudrette for ma- 

 nure, are in common use. This substance should 

 be mixed with at least an equal quantity of slack- 

 ed lime, which takes away all odor, and then, with 

 three or four times its quantity of common earth, 

 and made into a compost. 



3Iiid from ponds — the cleanings of ditches, Sfc; 

 Require to be previously fermented to kill the 

 seeds of weeds. 



The sioeepings of streets are liable to the same 

 remark. 



Ground bones. — These contain phosphate of 

 lime, carbonate of lime, and from one-third to one- 

 half"of animal gelly fat, and albumen. In Paris, 

 bones are employed in the manufacture of" portable 

 soup. The bones are boiled in water to get at the 

 li^t and mucilage; and they are digested in diluted 

 muriatic acid for about ten or twelve days; then 

 washed in cold water to separate the solution of 

 lime and phosphate of lime; thetransparentgelatine 

 remains in shape of" the bone. It is dissolved in, 

 boiling water; it is flavored to the palate of the 

 cook who manufactures it; concentrated into port- 

 able soup, and so sold. 



When young, we attended a veterinary school 

 in London, and a repository of dead horses, at 

 St. John's, Clerkenwell. Let us give the history 

 of a HEAD HORSE. The owner sends him to 

 the currier, to whom he is worth about half a gui- 

 nea. 'J'he currier sends him to the repository, 



