^l)c im-mcr's iUontl)Ijj l)isitor. 



89 



retuininj.' the loam or eaitli instantlj' hack by Inn 

 oilier I'lMTows. No rain iiiU'i'veiit'd liir ten days. 

 Ill lliioe (lays al'tor, iIjo ]iolatoes cliaiiL'eil tlieir 

 color, lliry s^tarlctl alrcsli as it llipy liail rcccivi'd 

 the hiiiclit of aiii|ilc shower?, n liile not a drop 

 of rain hail liilleii. 



''J'lir: dews, wliieli were almndant, siMtled upon 

 the new luriicd earlli, « liile liefbie llie |>loiigliiiifj; 

 no ninistnre had heeii appan in. 



'The last fart, thonf;li it cannot have escaped 

 the notict.' of the most careless cnltivator, has not 

 been as yet explained. We can easily see that a 

 soil reiiilercd porous would more readly anil ea- 

 sily convey its inoisiure tollie roots. It hecomes 

 like a spoiif:e, and is readily permeable, or rallier 

 readily p('rmits the moisture to pass liutw<M'n the 

 particles. Bin it is iiot yet understood why it 

 iitiracis the inoisiure. Perhaps, however, it may 

 I'C owin;; to its presenting a much greaK^r sur- 

 face to the moist air of the night. The iiici, how- 

 <-ver, which is what most concerns us, is settled. — 

 Perhaps some of the experiments of our distin- 

 guished countrymen Dr. Wells, a physician of 

 London, who rendered himself dislinguishcd by 

 his remarks on dew, may tend to explain this 

 fad, ihoiiuh it it is not my purpose to examine 

 the llieorj'. 



' Every man who feels an interest in the ques- 

 tion can satisfy himself at once by stirring a 

 small piece of earth in a time of severe drought, 

 and if he does not find it in the morning more 

 filled Willi moisture than the undisturbed ground 

 ill its vicinil)', let him continue an nnbolicver. 



' Cut there is another mode, and it is one w hich 

 ] have never heard suggested, by w liicli I appre- 

 hend the sliiriiig of the surface, and making it 

 light and jiorous, is beneficial in great droughts. 

 It is this: light porous bodies are bad conductors 

 of heat : perhaps because tliey have more air be- 

 tween their interstices. The tiicts are familiar to 

 us. IVletallic bodies acquire an inlense heat iiii- 

 df r the rays ol' the sun ; so do stones in propor- 

 tion to their density. The earth, when very com- 

 pact, will become exceedingly hot, but garden 

 loam, which is very porous, remains cool at noon 

 day t«o iiiclies below the surface. J believe, 

 therefore, that moving the surface, and keeping 

 it in a light and porous state enables it to resisl 

 Ike heat oj the sun's rnys ; that the air between the 

 particles of earth communicates the heat nioie 

 slowly than the particles themselves <lo when in 

 close contact. 



' Such is my theory, but I am an enemy to the- 

 ories. I always distrust tliein; I look only to 

 facts; and having obscrveil that a slight covering 

 of half an inch of sea weed would preserve my 

 strawberries from drought, which can only arise 

 from its lying so lnosc on the surface, 1 have 

 been leil to infer that tlie undoubted fact, that soil 

 in a loose piilverizi'd slate resists drought, is ow- 

 ing to the same cr.iise, to wit, ihe slowiiess with 

 w liich the heat of the solar rays is comrnuiiicaled 

 to the roots. But, the theory sound or unsound, 

 I am persuaded that "very farmer will find that 

 the free use of his |ilongli and hoe, in limes of 

 severe drought, will be of more value lo him 

 than as much manure as that labor would pur- 

 chase. I have alua\s been convinced fioin my 

 experience as an horlicnllnralist, that the great 

 secret in cultivation consists in -mrdiing llie soil 

 porous. In raising exotic plants we know it lo 

 be true, and our fiowcr-pols are alnays supplied 

 w'ilh soil the most porous which we can obtain. 

 The farmer may borrow light from an occupation 

 which he looks upon willi disdain, but which 

 serves to elucidate and explain the secrets of 

 vegetation.' — Complete Farmer. 



OjiF. Ol" THE Me.v of Bunkek Hill. — The Bos- 

 ton Journal L'ives the fnllnwing anecdote of Col. 

 Bancroft of Tyngsboro', one of the sturdy and 

 palrioiic yeomen, engaged, at the Batile of Bun- 

 ker Hill, and who died a few years since at a 

 very rpiiiarlfable age. " He was tall and remark- 

 ably po«erfnl man, .and was busily employed 

 |)ntting his last charge of powder and hall in his 

 gun, when the British soldiers entered the re- 

 doulit, and Ihe Yankees hastily made their exit. 

 He was the last man who left the entrenchment. 

 A British Grenadier opposed him with his bayo- 

 net, but was shot down — then seizing his musket 

 with both hands and holding it before him, he 

 rushed through the enemy's ranks, and by his 

 great physical strength, forced a passage through 

 the regulars, prostrating ihem unceremoniously 



on every side; he then leaped njion the breastwork 

 and in double ipilck lime Hdloued his retiirn- 

 iiig companions. Several muskets were discharg- 

 ed at him by the Brill.-h, u licuii h<^ had liealed 

 so rudely, but only one took effect, wliidi took 

 oll'one id' his fingers, and compelled hiin to drop 

 his musket, a lailhfnl friend. He made his es- 

 eape over Charlestown Neck without any further 

 disaster. 



Oil in Indian Corn. 



The oil in the horny portions of the grain is 

 contained in little six-sided c'clls, in the form of 

 minute drops, visible in a thin section midi-r a 

 good .•iiieroscope. W'hen a grain of corn is heat- 

 I'dtoa temperature sufficient lo decompose; the 

 oil, a Slid. 'en explosion lakes place, and every 

 cell is ruptured by the expansion of gaseous mat- 

 ters arising from the decomposition of llio oil, 

 and the grain is ruptured at the weakest point in 

 the arch, and is cmnplctely evoluted and folded 

 back. Now, on examining the cells again, they 

 will be found lacerated and swollen much out of 

 shape. 



if an attem|it is made lo pop Tuscarora corn, 

 it will be fouiid never to succeed; hence, 1 was 

 able to [irove that this curious phenomenon, so 

 fiimiliar lo every child, though never understood 

 by its parents, is due entirely to the decomposi- 

 tion of the oil, and the formation of carburetted 

 hydrogen gas, such as is sometimes used in light- 

 ing large cities. 



This change in the corn is one of considerable 

 importance, so far as regards facility of diges- 

 ti(ui ; for it is much more digestible by man after 

 this deeomposiiion and extrication of the oil, 

 though not so fallening to animals that can di- 

 gest oil. Tlie use of oil in corn is obviously lo 

 prevent the rapid decomposition of the grain in 

 the soil, and to retain a portion of food until 

 needed by the young plain, and is always the last 

 portion of iTO grain taken ui). 



It serves lo keep meal I'rom souring readily ; 

 and it will be observed that flint corn meal will 

 keep sweet for years, even when jiut tip in large 

 qnaulities ; but the Tuscarora meal will sour in 

 a short time. The latter is the most iligestible, 

 grain fiir horses, and is sofi ; but is of little vahie 

 lor feeding swine. It is a good kind of grain lor 

 rapid cooking, for its meal is (jiiickly boiled or 

 baked. 



Oily corn makes a dry kind of bread, and is 

 not adhesive enough to rise well without admix- 

 ture of rye or flour. Rice corn is so dry that, 

 alone, it will not make bread, but is dry like 

 sand. 



Oily grains are excellent for fiilteniiig fiiwls; 

 and the rice corn, boih fioin its size and oily na- 

 ture, is a<lmirably adapted for them. 



Corn is sometimes raised, for the manuflicture 

 of whiskey, and the oil is saved during the fer- 

 mentation, since it separates aiiil rises lo the siir- 

 liice. 1 have been intijrmed that 100 bushels of 

 corn yield from lil'ieen to sixteen gallons of oil. 

 It is tiiiide on the borders of Lake Ontario, and 

 has been used in the light-houses on the lake. 



A<'cording to my analysis, ihe proportions of 

 oil in Indian corn vary from G to 11 per cent.; 

 the latter being the jiehl from Canada corn; 

 while riei' corn contains siill more, but lias not 

 been lii'l_\ examined. 



Sonihern corn has more starch, and less oil 

 than the Norlhern flint corn, and is much softer 

 and better food for horses, though not so fallen- 

 ing for swine or poultry, and is, when ground, 

 more apt to become sour. 



W'licu Indian corn is bulled by means of pot- 

 ash lye, the oil next lo the epidermis of the gr.'Uii 

 is converted into soap, and the epidermis is de- 

 tached. The caustic alkali also liberates ammo- 

 nia from llie mucillage around the germ. 



Sweet corn appears like an unripe grain. Its 

 origin is unknown : but it appears to have been 

 used by the aboriginal inhabilants of New Eng- 

 land anterior to the settlement of the country by 

 the pilgrims. It is a remarkuble variety of corn ; 

 containiiig, as before observed, an uiiiisnally large 

 proportion of the phosphates, and a large qiian- 

 lily of the sugar anil gum, with but Utile starch. 

 Its excellence for food in its green slate is well 

 known and apjireciated ; and having stalks which 

 are short and slender, they, of course, take up a 

 less pro|iortion of the saline mallei s of the soil. 



The colors of Indian corn depend on that of 

 the epidermis, or hull, and of the oil; the latter, 



when y>llow, showing its color through a trans- 

 parent epidermis ; while, if the hull is colored 

 and opa(|ue, the grain presents the same color. 



In the Khode Island white llini, (a favorite grain 

 in that State,) the oil is transparent aud colorless ; 

 and the epidermis is likewise free from color, and 

 is n(!arly transparent; hence the meal is while; 

 and the quamity of oil being large, it is less lia- 

 ble to ferment and become sour than some other 

 varieties, and is in very good reput(\ 



The yellow color of llie golden Sioux, n 

 twelve-rowed kind of corn, is due to the color of 

 the oil. 



Brown corn has a darker color, dependent on 

 the combined colors of ihe oil and epidermis. 



Red and blue corn owe their lively hues to the 

 colors of the epidermis, anrl not to the oil. 



On inspecling very tliin slices of corn by tho 

 aid of the microscope, the epidermal coal is found 

 to be made up of hexagonal cells; sometimes 

 much elongated, and much hirger than those of 

 the glutinous and oily parts of the grain. 



The starch globules are seen distinctly in the 

 starchy part, and are smaller than those of the 

 potato, and arc mmdi more rounded. A drop of 

 diluted tincture of iodine bring out their fiirms 

 and character most beaiilifidly. 



No crystals of saline matters are seen in the 

 grain; but the phosphates are probably in the 

 state of a fine powder, while the ammonia is, in 

 combination with the organic matters, forming 

 a kind o\' amide in the mucilage around the germ. 



Indian corn, according to the analysis of Mr. 

 Payen, consists ol'tlie following ingredients : 



100 parts by weight yielded — 



Starch 28.00 



Nitrogenized matter 4.80 



Fat matter (oil) 35.00 



Coloring matter 0.20 



Cellular tissue 30.00 



Dextrine 2.00 



Viu ions salts 7.20 



98.20 



The proportion of oil is evidently overrated in 

 this analysis; and the error is due to the solubil- 

 ity of the zeiu,or gluten of Indian corn, in ether, 

 which Pa_\ en used to dissolve the oil. The glu- 

 ten, being taken up in this process, was mistaken 

 for oil, and credited in ihe analysis as such, when 

 it should be put under llie head of nitrogenized 

 matters. 



It is not surprising that M.Dumas, in quoting 

 this analysis, should observe that "individuals 

 who eat corn firir some time, present sympionis of 

 an accumulalioii offal in their tissue, which will 

 not a[ipear asloiiishiiig when wi: consider that a 

 bushel of corn would _\ield a quart (litre) of oil I" 

 Our New England fiirmers, then, ou<;hl to be an 

 excessively fat people, according lo this theory, 

 if they did not work it off into hard muscular 

 fibre. 



Dumas says, that ihe popping of corn is due lo 

 the conversion of tiie waier contained in the 

 starch into steam ; w hich 1 have shown to be an 

 error, and proved this phenomenon to arise from 

 the ruplure of lite cells of the glutinous jiart of 

 the grain, by the conversion of the contained glo- 

 biih'S of oil into gas. 



Indian corn is not sufficiently well known in 

 Europe, aud is not properly valued. In England, 

 the climate is not Riifficienlly warm in summer to 

 allow it to ripen ; but green corn can be abun- 

 dantly raised, and, if known, would be valued as 

 a luxury. In the souili of France, and in Vene- 

 lian Lombardy and in Tuscany, abundant crops 

 of Indian corn are raised ; but it is used only by 

 the poorer classes, and for feeding cattle — absurd 

 prejudices having prevented its use emong the 

 higher classes of llie people. 



" All animals that are exclusively carnivorous 

 will eat Indian corn, and generally prefer it to 

 other grain." It certainly is, in the highest de- 

 gree, nutriiious. 



The cnliivation of corn gives a peculiar char- 

 acter 10 New England husbandry — it being a hoed 

 grain crop, unknown in England. 



A grain of corn is a fruitful topic, and might 

 profitably occupy u large space on these jinges ; 

 liut what has already been stated may serve to 

 show the degree of interest attached to a single 

 agricultural product, and convince agricultural- 

 ists that they have abundant objects of study a- 

 lound iliem. 



