NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



373 



after their kind," was formed at the first in this 

 manner. When the particular elements became 

 united in the particular proportions that form an 

 apple seed, or the seed of any other vegetable, 

 that seed was formed in the earth. And the same 

 effect happens now, unless, by the changed condi- 

 tion of the earth, that union can no longer take 

 place. I have introduced this reference to a sys- 

 tem of cosmogony, which is, I suppose, peculiar to 

 myself, and which is not essential to the point 

 which forms the subject of these remarks, for the 

 purpose of more fully illustrating my idea of the 

 synthetic processes of nature. According to that 

 idea, if lime or other compound is a constituent 

 of any particular plant, it may be formed within 

 the plant itself, if its elements are introduced into 

 it, and it is not necessary that it should be intro- 

 duced in the compound form. 



By the process which is above supposed, ammo- 

 nia is supplied to plants. It is manufactured in 

 the vegetable laboratory. This is a mineral mat- 

 ter, not a vegetable product, more than lime. But 

 it is made from its elements in the tissues of plants. 

 The plant takes up carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and 

 nitrogen. The carbon uniting with a portion of 

 the oxygen in the plant and with the oxygen of 

 the atmosphere, passes away in form of carbonic 

 acid. The hydrogen in part unites with the re- 

 mainder of the oxygen and is evaporated ; and a 

 porti m of hydrogen remaining enters into combi- 

 nation with the nitrogen and forms ammonia. Thus 

 this earthy matter, the most essential to the growth 

 of the plant, is made within it, no less than the 

 vegetable products of starch, sugar and gum. Is 

 there any reason why lime, potash and soda, should 

 he taken up in form, and should not be formed in 

 the plant, any more than ammonia 1 



I hope some of your scientific correspondents will 

 consider the point here suggested to be worthy of 

 a full discussion ; and will furnish it for your pa- 

 per, w. J. A. B. 



Essex, Mass., 1852. 



For the New England Farmer. 



WARTS ON PLUM TREES. 



Mr. Editor : — Please inform what the cause is 

 of bunches showing themselves on plum trees ; 

 whether it is owing to the soil or not ? 



Springfield, Vt., 1852. g. w. p. 



Remarks. — Ascertain the cause and the cure, 

 friend P., and it shall be a snug income to you. 

 We believe the warts are occasioned by insects, but 

 whether the curculio or some other, we have not 

 been able to decide. We have trees growing with- 

 in a few rods of each other, one portion of which 

 is annually disfigured with warts, while the other 

 portion is smooth and clean. 



C^" Graziers in the United States must look to 

 their laurels. An ox raised on Prince Edward's 

 Island was recently sold at St. Johns, Newfound- 

 land, for the sum of forty pounds and ten shillings, 

 or nearly two hundred dollars. 



EP" The Canadian Agricultural Fair is to be 

 held at Toronto, and will last from the 21st to the 

 24th of September. The sum of $G000 is to be 

 awarded in prizes. 



UNITED STATES 



AGRICULTURAL UOMESTIOX. 



Before giving the details of the business of the 

 Convention, we shall be excused, we trust, for 

 making a very brief statement of facts relating 

 more particularly to the action of a single State. 



Massachusetts took an early and efficient inter- 

 est in the cause of agriculture. The first associa- 

 tion for its promotion in America was founded in 

 this commonwealth, in the year 1792, and incor- 

 porated by an Act of the General Court of that 

 year. In 1797, this association instituted the 

 Agricultural Journal, a publication which contin- 

 ued more than thirty years. It took measures 

 for the institution of county societies, and con- 

 tributed to the establishment of the Professorship 

 of Natural History, and of the Botanical Garden, in 

 the University of Cambridge. In 1818 began a 

 series of public addresses, pronounced successive- 

 ly at its autumnal celebrations, by John Lowell, 

 Josiaii Quincy, Richard Sullivan, Henry Col- 

 man, Timothy Pickering, John C. Gray, James 

 Richardson, Edward Everett, Henry A. S. Dear- 

 born, all honored names. The efforts of these 

 pioneers in the work have been seconded and con- 

 tinued to this day by many of their successors 

 with a steady perseverance and a noble enthusi- 

 asm. Time, talent and treasure have been devot- 

 ed with liberal generosity to develop new resour- 

 ces in the earth and air, to propagate new fruits 

 and flowers and perfect these that are indigenous. 

 This enthusiasm has led some of them to the Old 

 World to examine the breeds of cattle, swine, 

 sheep, and horses there, to mingle the blood of the 

 hest in the New World and improve the races 

 here. And in the gardens and fields and on the 

 hill-tops throughout the State may be seen the 

 evidences of their philanthropy. The names of 

 Perkins, Piiinney, Saltonstall, Wilder, Proctor, 

 D. S. King, Hitchcock, and many others now ac- 

 tive in the work may well be ranged in the rank of 

 honor with those who have performed their part 

 and retired from the interesting field of labor. 



In 1819, the commonwealth appropriated two 

 hundred dollars annually to every county society 

 which should raise the sum of one thousand dol- 

 lars for the promotion of agriculture, and in like 

 proportion for any greater sum, not exceeding 

 three thousand dollars. These societies are now 

 fifteen or sixteen in number in the State, all re- 

 ceiving the State bounty, and exerting an influ- 

 ence on our hard and unpromising soil, by reclaim- 

 ing the bogs and fens and swamps, and laying up 

 its granite in dwellings of architectural beauty as 

 well as comfort ; in durable barns for stock, and in 

 spanning the rivers with permanent bridges, which 

 is rapidly changing the surface into delightful 

 landscapes, studded with the farm-houses which 



