Germinating Power of Seeds. — Amateur Farming. Vol. X. 



Germinating Power of Seeds. 



Dr. Carpenter, in his work on Vegeta- 

 ble Physiology, gives the following interest- 

 ing statements: 



" To the westward of Stirling, there is a 

 large peat bog, a great part of which has 

 been flooded away, by raising water from the 

 river Teith, and discharging it into the 

 Forth; the object of this process being, to 

 lay bare the under-soil of clay, which is 

 then cultivated. The clergyman of the pa- 

 rish was on one occasion standing by, while 

 the workmen were forming a ditch in this 

 clay, in a part which had been covered with 

 fourteen feet of peat earth; observing some 

 seeds in the clay which was throw n out of 

 this ditch, he took them up and sowed them; 

 they germinated, and produced a species of 

 Chrysanthemum. A very long period ofyears 

 must have probably elapsed, whilst the seeds 

 were getting their covering of clay; and of 

 the time necessary to produce fourteen feet 

 of peat-earth above this, it is scarcely possi- 

 ble to form an idea ; but it must have been 

 — in the natural course of things — extremely 

 great. 



"The following circumstance which oc- 

 curred about thirty years ago in the State 

 of Maine, in North America, is, perhaps, 

 still more remarkable. Some well-diggers, 

 when sinking a well, at the distance of 

 about 40 miles from the sea, struck, at the 

 depth of about 20 feet, a layer of sand ; this 

 strongly excited curiosity and interest, from 

 the circumstance tliat no similar sand was 

 to be found anywhere in the neighbourhood, 

 or anywhere nearer than the sea-beach. As 

 it was drawn up from the well, it was placed 

 in a pile by itself; an unwillingness having 

 been felt to mix it with the stones and gra- 

 vel, which were also drawn up. But when 

 the work was about to be finished, and the 

 pile of stones and gravel to be removed, it 

 was found necessary to remove also the sand 

 heap. This, therefore, was scattered about 

 the spot on which it had been formed ; and 

 was for some time scarcely remembered. In 

 a year or two, however, it was perceived that 

 a great number of small trees had sprung 

 from the ground over which the sand had 

 been strewn. These trees became, in their 

 turn, objects of strong interest; and care 

 was taken that no injury should come to 

 them. At length it was ascertained that 

 they were beach-plum trees; and they actu- 

 ally bore the beach-plum, which had never 

 before been seen, except immediately upon 

 the sea-shore. These trees must therefore 

 have sprung up from seeds which had ex- 

 isted in the stratum of sea-sand pierced by 

 the well-diggers; and, until this was dis- 



persed, in such a manner as to expose them 

 to the air, they remained inactive. ' By 

 what convulsion of the elements,' adds the 

 narrator, ' they had been thrown there, or 

 how long they had quietly slept beneath the 

 surface of the earth, must be determined by 

 those who know very much more than I do.' 

 "The following is an example of the same 

 general fact, which is interesting from its 

 connection with historical events. In the 

 year 1715, during the rebellion in Scotland, 

 a camp was formed in the King's Park — a 

 piece of ground belonging to the castle — at 

 Stirling. Wherever the ground was broken, 

 broom sprang up, although none had ever 

 been known to grow there. The plant was 

 subsequently destroyed ; but in 1745, a simi- 

 lar growth appeared, after the ground had 

 been again broken up for' a like purpose. 

 Some time afterwards, the park was ploughed 

 up, and the broom became generally spread 

 over it. The same thing happened in a field 

 in the neighbourhood, from the whole sur- 

 face of whicli about nine inches of soil had 

 been removed. The broom seeds could not 

 have been conveyed by the wind, although 

 the plant is a common one in the neighbour- 

 hood, because they are heavy and without 

 wings; and the form of the ground is such, 

 that no stream of water could have trans- 

 ported them, or have covered them after- 

 wards with soil. Such an effect must have 

 resulted from the operation of causes, con- 

 tinued through a long period of time." 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Amateur Farming. 



To THE Editor : 



If you think the following observations 

 worth it, you can give them a place in your 

 paper, which you publish not only for the me- 

 ridian of Philadelphia, but also for the humble 

 cottager among our mountains, who has to 

 earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, and 

 who eagerly seeks in it what really is useful, 

 and I must say, often finds it, though we 

 sometimes meet the effusions of gentlemen, 

 who have filled their purses by mercantile 

 speculations, and then retreat to agriculture 

 for the benefit of their health. They tell us 

 of their operations, which may have turned 

 out like that of the Indian's gun, which cost 

 more than it came to. With pleasure we 

 see in the June number of the Cabinet, that 

 the Philadelphia Agricultural Society have 

 past that very judicious resolution, that the 

 applicants for the premium for the best farm, 

 must answer questions as respects expendi- 

 tures and profits. A strict account current, 

 showing a balance of profit, would be an 

 interesting document for our practical farm- 



