388 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



which proves in the most positive manner 

 the necessity of the sexual impregnation of 

 plants; for when the corn is in blossom, if 

 heavy rains, or tempestuous winds carry off 

 the farina from the male stamina, the ears 

 become abortive and destitute of meal, or 

 partly so, according to their situation, or to 

 their state of fitness to receive the pollen. 



Dr. Cart wright, during his investigation 

 of the effects of salt upon vegetables, was 

 led to apply it as a remedy for the mildew in 

 wheat. The mode of applying it is to sprin- 

 kle the corn with a solution of the salt, the 

 object being to wet the straw in which the 

 mildew exists. The experiments, upon trial, 

 were very successful, scarcely any remains of 

 the disease being to be found forty-eight 

 hours after the sprinkling. Six or eight 

 bushels will suffice for an acre, and the ex- 

 pense of the salt will be repaid by the im- 

 provement of the manure made from the 

 salted straw. Two men, one to spread, and 

 the other to supply him with the salt, will 

 get over four acres in a day. The effect of 

 the remedy arises from this circumstance, 

 that though the solution of salt has no in- 

 jurious action on the stem and fibrous parts of 

 vegetables; yet, on getting to the roots in 



