5GG 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



covered by her. Under her directions mechanics 

 have bored to their sources, and their gushing 

 abundance now spreads fertility around. Such are 

 the more sensible and larger triumphs of progress- 

 ing rural economy — such as man may well boast 

 of — not only in themselves, but in their consequen- 

 ces ; and they may take their place with the gi- 

 gantic vessels of war, as magnificent results of in- 

 tellectual effort. 



VEGETATION OP THE FROZEN RE- 

 GIONS. 



The following extract is from Seaman's "Bota- 

 ny of the Voyage of H. M. ship Herald, under the 

 command of Captain Kellet," in search of Sir John 

 Franklin. The accounts of the remarkable phe- 

 nomena exhibited in those icy regions will be found 

 new and exceedingly interesting : 



"The soil is always frozen, and merely thaws 

 during the summer, a few feet below the surface. 

 But the thawing is by no means uniform. In peat 

 it extends not more than two feet, while in other 

 formations, especially in sand or gravel, the ground 

 is free form frost to the depth of nearly a fathom, 

 showing that sand is a better conductor of heat 

 peat or clay, and corroborating the observation of 

 the accurate J. D. Hooker, who, after a series of 

 experiments in India, arrived at the same conclu- 

 sion. The roots of the plants, even those of the 

 shrubs and trees, do not penetrate into the frozen 

 subsoil. On reaching it, they recoil as if they 

 touched upon a rock, through which no passage 

 could be forced. 



"It may be surprising to behold a vegetation 

 flourishing under such circumstances, existing inde- 

 pendent, it would seem, of terrestrial heat. But 

 surprise is changed into amazement on visiting 

 Kotsbue Sound, where on the tops of icebergs, 

 herbs and shrubs are thriving with a luxuriance 

 only equalled in more favored climes. There, from 

 Elephant to Eschholtz Point, is a series of cliffs 

 from seventy to ninety feet high, which present 

 some striking illustrations of the manner in which 

 Arctic plants grow. Three distinct layers com- 

 pose these cliffs. The lower, as far as it can be 

 seen above the ground, is ice, and from twenty to 

 fifty feet high. The central is clay, varying in 

 thickness from two to twenty feet, and intermin- 

 gled with remains of fossil elephants, horses, deer, 

 musk-oxen. The clay is covered by peat, the third 

 layer bearing vegetation, to which it owes its ex- 

 istence. Every year, during July, August and 

 September, masses of ice melt, by which the up- 

 permost layers are deprived of support and tumble 

 down. A complete chaos is thus created ; ice, 

 plants, bones, peat and clay, are mixed in the 

 most disorderly manner. It is hardly possible to 

 imagine a more grotesque aspect. Here are seen 

 pieces still covered with lichens and mosses, there 

 a shoal of earth, with bushes of willows ; at one 

 place a lump of clay with senecious and polygo- 

 nums, of another the remnants of the mammoth, 

 the tufts of hair peculiar to burial places, and ev- 

 idently decomposed animal matter. The foot fre- 

 quently tumbles over ostealogical remains, some 

 elephants' tusks measuring as much as twelve feet 

 in length, weighing more than two hundred and 

 forty pounds. Nor is the formation confined to 

 Escholtz Bay. It is observed in various parts of 

 Kotzbue Sound, on the River Buckland, and in 

 other localities, making it probable that a great 



portion of North-western America is underneath 

 a solid mass of ice. With such facts before us, we 

 acknowledge that terrestrial heat exercises but a 

 limited and indirect influence upon vegetable life, 

 and that to the solar rays we are mainly indebted 

 for the existence of those forms which clothe with 

 verdure the surface of our planet. 



"A curious fact is stated respecting the condi- 

 tion of the vegetable world during the long day of 

 the Arctic summer. Although the sun never sets, 

 while it lasts, plants make no mistake about the 

 time, when if it be not night, it ought to be; but 

 regularly as the evening hours approach, and 

 when a midnight sun is several degrees above the 

 horizon, droop their leaves, and sleep even as they 

 do at sunset in more favored climes. 



"'If man,' observes Mr. Seamen, 'should ever 

 reach the pole, and be undecided which way to 

 turn when his compass becomes sluggish, his time- 

 piece out of order, the plants which he may hap- 

 pen to meet, will show him the way; their sleep- 

 ing leaves tell him that midnight is at hand, and 

 at that time the sun is standing in the north.' " 

 — Fitchburg Reveille. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 "WHERE DOES WOOD COME FROM." 



Mr. Editor : — I perfectly agree with you, in 

 some remarks made a short time since, with regard 

 to the system of editors in general not giving 

 proper credit to such selections as they may deem 

 of sufficient importance to be transferred into their 

 respective columns. To say nothing of the mani- 

 fest injustice in such a case, which is a matter per- 

 taining more particularly to the editorial province, 

 it deprives the reader of a very valuable index by 

 which, alone, he is to determine to whom he is in- 

 debted for information received, or against whom 

 he is to make a sally in case he should chance to 

 differ in any respect. 



An instance of this system of misrule occurs in 

 the Neiv England Farmer of June 1st. (Pardon 

 me, but injustice I would say, that such instances 

 are exceedingly rare.) (a). A very valuable arti- 

 cle upon the growth of trees — the principles of 

 which are mainly contrary to my experience — ap- 

 pears, credited to — "Exchange.'''' Hence, instead 

 of presenting my objections directly to the author, 

 who would be most likely to satisfactorily define 

 his position, I am under the necessity, if desirous 

 of any explanation at all, to take the circuitous 

 route of presenting them to some miscellaneous 

 print with the hope that they may chance to meet 

 the eye of the one for whom they were intended. 



But without further remark on this head, I will 

 proceed immediately to make my objections, and 

 "trust luck." The writer after detailing at some 

 length with regard to various experiments, finally 

 comes to these conclusions — "Where then does 

 wood come from? We are left with only these 

 two alternatives, the water with which it was re- 

 freshed, or the atmosphere in which it lived. Now 

 it can be clearly shown that it was not due to the 

 water ; we are consequently unable to resist the 

 perplexing and wonderful conclusion, that it was 

 derived from the air." 



I will simply ask, by what system of experiment 

 can it be so "clearly shown" that water does not 

 a/50 materially aid in the production of wood 1 No 

 one denies but that other elements than those de- 



