THE FARMEMB' REGISTER. 



489 



much longer than usual, so much so, that in the 

 middle of last November, when other plants o( 

 the same kinds were dead, these were quite fresh 

 and partly in bloom. .droidecB took root verj' 

 rapidly, and their leaves surpassed much in size 

 the leaves of those not so treated : the species, 

 which are reared as ornamental plants on account 

 of the beautiful coloring of their leaves, (I mean 

 such as the Caladiinn hicolor, Plctum, Pcucile, 

 &c.,) were particularly remarked for the liveliness 

 of their tints; and it happened here, also, that the 

 period of their vegetation was unusually long. 

 A cactus planted in a mixture of equal parts of 

 charcoal and earth throve progressively, and at- 

 tained double its former size in the space of a few 

 weeks. The use of the charcoal was very ad- 

 vantageous with several of the Bromeliacecs, and 

 Liliacea, with the Citrus and Begonia also, and 

 even with the PalmcR. The same advantage was 

 found in the case of almost all those plants for 

 which sand is used, in order to keep the earth 

 porous, when charcoal was mixed with the soil 

 instead of sand ; the vegetation was always ren- 

 dered stronger and more vigorous. 



" At the same time that these experiments 

 were performed with mixtures of charcoal with 

 different soils, the charcoal was also used free from 

 any addition, and In this case the best results 

 were obtained. Cuts of plants from different ge- 

 nera took root in it well and quickly; I mention 

 here only the Euphorbia fastuosa and fulgens 

 which took root in ten days, Pandanus utilis in 

 three months, P. amarylUfolius, Chamcedorm 

 elatior in four weeks. Piper nigrum, Beggnia, 

 Eicus, Cecropia, Chiococca, Buddleja Hakea, 

 Phyllanthus, Capparis, Laurus, Slifftia Jacqui- 

 nia, Mimosa, Cactus, in from eight to ten days, 

 and several others amounting to forty species, 

 including Ilex, and many others. Leaves, and 

 pieces of leaves, and even pedunculi, or petioles, 

 took root and in part budded in pure charcoal. 

 Amongst others we may mention the foliola of 

 several of the Cycadem as having taken root, as 

 also did part of the leaves of the Begonia Telsa- 

 iricB, and Jacaranda Brasiliensis ; leaves of the 

 Euphorbia fastuosa, Oxalis Barrilieri, Ficus, 

 Cyclamen, Pnlyanthes, Mesembrianthemum ; also, 

 the delicate leaves of the Lophospermum and 

 Martynia, pieces of a leaf of the j^gave Ameri- 

 cana; tails of Pinus, &c. ; and all without the 

 aid of a previously formed bud.* 



" Pure charcoal acts excellently as a means of 

 curing unhealthy plants. A Dorianthes excelsa, 

 for example, which had been drooping for three 

 years, was rendered completely healthy in a very 

 short time by this means. An orange tree 

 which had the very common disease in which the 

 leaves become yellow, acquired within four weeks 

 its healthy green color, when the upper surface 

 of the earth was removed from the pot in which 

 it was contained, and a ring of charcoal of an 

 inch in thickness strewed in its place around the 



* The cuttings of several of these plants being full 

 of moisture, require to be partially dried before they 

 are placed in the soil, and are with difficulty made to 

 strike root in the usual method. The charcoal is pro- 

 bably useful from its absorbing and antiseptic power. 

 The Hakea is extremely difficult to propagate from 

 cuttings. All the Laurus tribe are obstinate, some 

 of them have not rooted under three years from the 

 time of planting. — W. 

 Vol. IX.-45 



periphery of the pot. The Bame was the case 

 with the Gardenia. 



"' I should be led too far were I to state all the 

 results of the experiments which I have made 

 with charcoal. The object of this paper is mere- 

 ly lo show the general effect exercised by this 

 substance on vegetation, but the reader who takes 

 particular interest in the subject, will find more 

 extensive observations in the '■^ Allgememe deutsche 

 Gartenzeitang^'' of Oito and Dietrich, in Berlin.* 



" The charcoal employed in these experiments 

 was the dust-like powder o( charcoal from firs and 

 pines, such as is used in the Ibrges of blacksmiths, 

 and may be easily procured in any quantity. It 

 was found to have most effect when allowed to 

 lie during the winter exposed to the action of the 

 air. In order to ascertain the effects of different 

 kinds of charcoal, experiments were also made 

 upon that obtained from the hard woods and 

 peat, and also upon animal charcoal, although I 

 foresaw the probability that none of them would 

 answer so well as thai of pine-wood, both on ac- 

 count of its porosity and the ease with which it is 

 decomposed. 



" It is superfluous to remark, that in treating 

 plants in the manner here described, they must be 

 plentiliilly supplied with water, since the air hav- 

 ing such free access penetrates and dries the roots, 

 so that unless this precaution is taken, the failure 

 of all such experiments is unavoidable. 



" The action of charcoal consists primarily in 

 its preserving the parts of the plants with which 

 it is in contact; whether they be roots, branches, 

 leaves, or pieces of leaves, unchanged in their 

 vital power for a long space of time, so that the 

 plant obtains time to develope the organs which 

 are necessary for its further support and propaga- 

 tion. There can scarcely be a doubt also that The 

 charcoal undergoes decomposition ; for afier being 

 used five or six years it becomes a coaly earth ; 

 and if this is the case, it must yield carbon, or 

 carbonic oxide, abundantly to the plants growing 

 in it, and thus afford the principal substance ne- 

 cessary for the nutrition of vegetables. In what 

 other manner indeed can we explain the deep 

 green color and great luxuriance of the leaves 

 and every part of the plants, which can be obtain- 

 ed in no other kind of soil, according to the opi- 

 nion of men well qualified to judge 1 It exercises 

 likewise a favorable influence by decomposing and 

 absorbing the matters absorbed [query, excr'eted] 

 by the roots, so as to keep the soil free from the 

 putrefying substances which are often the cause 

 of the death of the spongiolcB. Its porosity as 

 well as the power which it possesses, of absorb- 

 ing water with rapidity, and after its saturation, of 

 allowing all other water to sink through it, are 

 causes also of its favorable effects. These expe- 

 riments show what a close affinity the component 

 parts of charcoal have to all plants, for every ex- 

 periment was crowned with success, although 

 plants belonging to a great many different families 

 were subjected to trial." Buchner's Repertorivm, 

 ii Reihe, xix Bd. S. 38.) 



[The foregoing article is part of Professor Web- 

 ster's Appendix to his late edition of Liebig'e 

 "Organic Chemistry." The results stated show 



* See an account of these experiments in Loudon's 

 Gardener's Magazine, for March, 1841. 



