No. 2. 



Protection against Drovght. 



43 



veg-etation might have been encouraged. I 

 frequently satisfied myself of the correctness 

 of the mode which I had adopted, by testing 

 by means of the thermometer the temperature 

 of the atmosphere at the bottom of the room 

 near the floor, and around the pots near the 

 ceiling, and the difference was quite sufficient 

 to convince me that the reasoning was just. 

 My plants are now very strong and healtliy, 

 and I attribute their thrift to the circumstance 

 of covering the surface of the mould in the 

 pots with a small quantity of well-rotted ma- 

 nure — thus practising the principle of top- 

 dressing, for the idea of which I am indebted 

 to the pages of the Cabinet. 



A thought has this moment struck me; — 

 we see how often the plants of a green-house, 

 or those that have been preserved through 

 the winter, when put out in the summer on 

 frames or otherwise, are found to suffer 

 through the heat of the sun and the drying 

 influence of a scorching wind ; and how much 

 better they do if they are removed to the 

 border and the pot be plunged into it ; but as 

 this is often not convenient or desirable, 

 would it not be an excellent substitute to 

 place each pot into a casing — another or out- 

 side pot, which might be painted white, to 

 prevent the absorption of heat, even under a 

 mid-day sun] And this, 1 conceive, would 

 not be all the advantage to be derived from 

 the plan proposed, for we know that the 

 nights soon grow cold, and long before the 

 season for removing the plants to the green- 

 house, how often must they be chilled by the 

 night air after a scorching day's sun, pene- 

 trating through the thin covering of a single 

 pot — the thickness about the fourth of an 

 inch only — between the cold atmosphere and 

 their tenderest roots. Now all these vicissi- 

 tudes might be guarded against, merely by 

 placing the pot containing the plant into an- 

 other — a common size larger — which would 

 not be troublesome, expensive, or unsightly. 

 I mean immediately to adopt it. Flora. 



August 20, 3841. 



Protection as^ainst Drought. 



In tillage, the best protection against 

 drought that can be conveniently practised 

 to a great extent, is frequent stirring the 

 earth, so as to keep it light and loose. In 

 this way, the earth at the surface is in many 

 small particles, which serve as a non-con- 

 ductor of moisture, and retain it below, where 

 the roots obtain a supply. 



On the contrary, when the earth is hard 

 and compact, the moisture is readily conduct- 

 ed off through it, even to a groat depth in a 

 very dry time. As an illustration, if one end 

 of a long bar of iron be put into a fire, the 

 heat will readily pass to the other end ; but if 

 that bar be cut into pieces of one inch or less 



in length, and laid along in the manner of a 

 bar, the pieces would touch in some places, 

 and in others there would be a small space 

 between them ; and on heating one end, the 

 other would not be affected, as the heat would 

 not pass but a small space through the pieces. 



Again, we will 6uppo.se that a fire of in- 

 tense heat be made on a block of iron that is 

 four feet square, and ten feet high, the body 

 of iron would fast become heated downward, 

 even to the bottom. Now, if that iron should 

 be cut or broken into fine pieces, and a body 

 of iron formed of these pieces, of the same 

 size as the block, and a fire of a like degree 

 of heat made thereon, the heat would work 

 down slowly, after penetrating a small dis- 

 tance through the many particles, and the 

 air intervening betvy-een them. We give this 

 as the theory. It is the practice, as in all 

 other things, that we rely on as the founda- 

 tion of true science. 



There is, in a dry time, a great quantity 

 of moisture in the earth, that is continually 

 rising and passing off in evaporation ; and if 

 this evaporation can be prevented, in a great 

 measure, by a non-conductor of moisture at 

 the surface, the plants will suffer compara- 

 tively but little. This is abundantly shown 

 in practice. 



Those who have not witnessed from experi- 

 ments and observation the advantages of fine 

 loose earth on the surface, as a protection of 

 plants against drought, would not be likely 

 to suppose its cffbct so great as it is, though 

 the theory is plausible and reasonable. Corn. 

 and other vegetables that have been well hoed, 

 in e.xtremely dry times, have flourished well,, 

 while some parts left for experiment were 

 nearly destroyed by drought. 



We noticed the powerful effects of this 

 protection last season. We cultivated a few 

 acres, mostly dry land, and the drought was 

 severe indeed. Where the soil was frequent- 

 ly stirred and kept light and loose on the top, 

 there was a constant moisture a short dis- 

 tance from the top; but where the earth re- 

 mained unmoved, it dried to a great depth. 



A narrow strip, running across the piece, 

 was left for turnip.s, and remained unploughed. 

 On this the soil became dry below the usual 

 depth of ploughing, and the weeds were al- 

 most dead for want of moisture, while at the 

 side, weeds of the same kind in the edge of 

 the ploughed ground, were fresh and vigor- 

 ous, and the soil was dry only a few inches 

 on the surface. 



Where some grain was sowed, the earth 

 was dry down six or seven inches; while by 

 the side of it, where the soil was often stirred, 

 it was dried down only three or four inches. 

 And in this latter case, the moist earth had 

 a good degree of moisture, while the former 

 contained but little. — Yankee Far. 



