128 



GENESEE FARMER. 



June, 



Theory of Agriculture. 



Under this head, Professor Emmons, Editor 

 of the "American Quarterly Journal of Agri- 

 culture," has an able and interesting article in 

 the first number of the present year. The 

 writer enters into an elaborate argument to 

 prove the incorrectness of the theory of Lie- 

 big, Dumas, and other distinguished jihysiolo- 

 gists, in regard to the amount of nourishment 

 which cultivated i)lants derive from the atmos- 

 phere. Prof. E. has made out a pretty strong 

 cjvse against the views of Liebig that plants de- 

 rive 7wnc of their carbon from the substance of 

 the soil, or its mold. On the other hand, we 

 think he attributes too much importance to the 

 agency of crenic and opocrcnic acids in supply- 

 ing plants with the large amount of carbon which 

 they all require to form their stems, roots and 

 seeds. To be understood by all our readers, it is 

 proper to remark that "crenic" and "apocrenic" 

 are terms applied to peculiar acids, formed by 

 decaying vegetables and animals in the soil, and 

 precede the tbrmalion of carbonic acid and am- 

 monia from the same simple elements. Both 

 acids contain some nitrogen, but apocrenic more 

 than crenic acid. 



These organic acids combine with the alkalies 

 potasli and soda, and the alkaline earths, lime and 

 magnesia, in soils to form therl'ass of salts called 

 - crenates and apocrcnates of potash, lime, &c. — 

 They are soluble, and of course capable of en- 

 tering the roots of plants, and supplying to liv- 

 ing, growing ones, the elements of dead plants 

 for re-organization. All European Chemists 

 that have written on the subject, whose writings 

 we have consulted, concur witli Doctors Emmons 

 and Jackson in regard to tlie power of plants to 

 imbibe soluble crenates and apocrenates, but 

 most of them deny that plants can assimilate the 

 carbon contained in these acids. They were 

 first discovered byBerzelius in mineral springs, 

 whence their name from the Greek '■^kroie,^' a 

 spring. 



In the north of Europe, in times of distress 

 from a scarcity of food, the people eat certain 

 soft minerals, or rotten stones, which abound in 

 crenic and apocrenic acids, derived from the par- 

 tial decomposition of the bodies of microscopic 

 animals. Petzholt asserts positively that before 

 an organized substance can be re-organized, or 

 nourish a living vegetable, it must be fully redu- 

 ced to its ultimate elements of carbonic acid, wa- 

 ter and ammonia. In other words, that acetic, 

 oxalic, citric, and other organic acids, as well as 

 albumen, oil and sL^gar, must be decomposed to 

 furnish plants with their natural food or constitu- 

 ents, in an available form. 



The facts stated by Dr. Jackson in regard to 

 the value of crenates of j)otash and lime as fer- 

 tilizers are not conclusive, because the benefit 

 derived from their application may be due exclu- 

 sively to the potash or lime in the salt, and not 



at all to the acid. It docs not follow, because the 

 acetate of ])otash benefits a crop, therefore vine- 

 gar alone will be advantageous. Nevertheless 

 we do not regard the question as settled, whether 

 organic acids of any kind are capable of nourish- 

 ing plants or not. It can only be satisfactorily 

 decided by numerous and careful experiments 

 yet to be made. 



In 100 lbs. of crenate potash, lime, soda 

 and ma^jnesia, there would probably be some 50 

 lbs. of mineral bases. The formula of crenic 

 acid, according to Berzelius, is, 1 nitrogen, 14 

 carbon, 10 hydrogen, and 12 oxygen. This 

 gives 14 of carbon in 43 of crenic acid, and 

 probably not more than 17 in 100 pads of cre- 

 nate of lime, soda or potash. In forming the 

 seeds of wheat, corn, and oats, nature uses be- 

 tween 40 and 50 times more carbon than of the 

 alkaline bases of the crenates. Hence to sup- 

 ply 100 lbs. of seed wheat or corn with carbon 

 from Prof. Emmons' crenates, at least 250 I!,.';-, 

 of these salts must circul ite through the com or 

 wheat plant; al;hou:',h only 1 lb. in the corn, and 

 •Zh in the wheat, of earthy matter, all told, are ever 

 found in the kernels of wheat and corn. 



This view of the subject shows conclusively 

 that there is a great excess of the bases of cre- 

 nates and apocrecrates, i. e. of lime, potash and 

 magnesia in the soil, or a great defect in the 

 "theory" under examination. The more we i.i- 

 vestigate this subject, the better satisfied we are 

 that nine tenths of all cultivated plants, on a fair 

 average, are made up of constituents derived 

 from water and air. In other Avords, calling the 

 average quantity of mineral, incombustible ele 

 ments in our crops at 5 per cent, the soil does 

 not furnish more than a like amount of carbon, 

 nitrogen, and the elements of water. For aught 

 we know to the contrary, nearly or quite all of 

 this 5 per cent of organic matter may be in cre- 

 nic or apocrenic acid. 



As little has been said of these acids in agri- 

 cultural journals, we thought it not amiss to say 

 thus much concerning them. Dr. Emmons 

 makes out "the amount of available soluble cre- 

 nates and a])ocrenates in an acre of soil not to 

 exceed one foot in depth, to be above ticenty tons.'''' 

 Tills opinion is founded on personal investiga- 

 tions made by Prof E. in washing soils with cold 

 rain water, as it falls from the clouds. 



These investigations, being original and most 

 trustworthy, impart to the Quarterly Journal of 

 Agriculture a peculiar value. Althougli our 

 "Theory" is a little different from that of the 

 able State Geologist, yet we should do injustice 

 to our agricultural friends not to commend this 

 work to tlujir attention as one that contains much 

 usefid informatio 1 not to be found elsewhere. — 

 Price, $2 a year. 



It is stated that the potatoe murrain has ap- 

 peared in carrots and onions in England. 



