No. 2. Transpiration of Plants. — Cutting Stalks — Harvesting Corn. 71 



with whom the mysteries of floriculture, and 

 the higher branches of gardening, are familiar. 

 "With the female mind such pursuits are con- 

 genial. The parlour is rendered magic in its 

 attractions by the nurture of some superb 

 exotic, under the fair hands of the wife, the 

 mother, or the sister ; and whatever lends a 

 charm to home, demands our sacred attention ! 

 Many a child has been won to the graces of 

 life by the ministry of some flower which 

 aftection has reared, and which a molher''s 

 hand has cherished : and who ever can forget 

 whats/ie has loved, or pass with an indifferent 

 eye the flower in which she has delighted ! 

 Never should the beautiful anecdote of the 

 illustrious Cuvier be forgotten, in his admira- 

 tion of the red-stock gilliflower, because it 

 was his mother's Jlower ! Tokens of endur- 

 ing affection and of sacred friendship ! what 

 more appropriate gift can be offered upon the 

 family altar than these living types of beauty, 

 love, and everlasting remembrance"? — Pro- 

 fessor RusseWs Address, 



Trauspiratiou of Plants. 



It is found that a sunflower in twelve 

 hours transpires by its leaves one pound four- 

 teen ounces of water (nearly one quart), all 

 of which must have been imbibed from the 

 soil by the roots; water being the vehicle 

 which conveys nourishment to plants. The 

 food which it holds in solution is imparted to 

 a plant in a manner analogous to the nourish- 

 ment imparted to the animal system by the 

 food which passes into the stomach. Hence, 

 the growth of the plant depends much on the 

 presence of moisture as well as of vegetable 

 matter in the soil, and upon the sufficiency 

 of the roots to take it up and convey it to the 

 trunk: — thus, if a tree is divested of a great 

 portion of its roots in transplanting, it makes 

 new wood only in proportion as these are re- 

 placed by a new growth ; and thus, also, a 

 plant grows faster in a moist soil than in a 

 dry one — the fertility being both alike — and 

 faster in a mellow soil, where the roots can 

 fully extend and multiply, than in a hard one. 

 These facts suggest — 1st, the impropriety of 

 ploughing deep between the rows of corn 

 and other crops while much advanced in 

 growth, whereby the roots might be broken 

 and wounded, and exposed to the drying in- 

 fluences of the sun and winds. 2d, the im- 

 portance of keeping all crops perfectly clear 

 of v/eeds and grass, which rob the soil of food 

 and moisture; and 3d, the propriety of trans- 

 planting trees while they are young, when 

 the system of roots can be preserved nearly 

 entire, and of surrounding them with a bed 

 of mellow, rich earth. — Selected, 



We all receive from society full as much 

 as we give. 



Cutting Stalks— Harvesting Corn. 



Some farmers still pursue the old way of 

 topping their stalks, as it is termed, which ia 

 cutting off" the stalks of corn at the first joint 

 above the ear, soon after the grain becomes 

 turned or grows hard. Many experiments 

 have been made, showing that there is a loss 

 of grain in cutting stalks at the usual time ; 

 for when some rows in a piece have been cut 

 in this manner, and others allowed to stand, 

 it has been proved, on harvesting, that the 

 corn which remained uncut yielded the most, 

 in some cases, by twenty per cent. The sap 

 ascends from the roots to the leaves of the 

 plant, and there it undergoes an important 

 change, becoming elaborated into juices suit- 

 able to add to the growth of the plant, or 

 fruit, or to form and perfect its seed, and any 

 mutilation of the plant is injurious. We 

 have seen a complete failure of corn when 

 grass-hoppers had eaten off' the leaves. Let 

 the leaves be stripped from any plant, and the 

 consequence will be a failure in growth, and 

 in fruit or grain as the case may be. 



When corn is so ripe that it may be topped 

 without injury, then it may be cut up at the 

 bottom without loss ; and if this be done 

 when the kernel is well glazed, and becom- 

 ing hard, then the butt, as well as top stalks, 

 will be saved in a good condition ; and, after 

 it is shocked, the grain will still receive some 

 more nutriment from the stalk, if it is not 

 perfected. In this way, the grain comes to 

 perfection, the stalks, both top and butt, are 

 saved in a good state, and the harvesting is 

 done at a far less expense than that of top- 

 ping, gathering the corn, and cutting up the 

 butts. Farmers, make exact experiments, 

 and report the result. 



Late corn cut up when full in the milk, 

 will ripen and make sweet bread. We have 

 cut up corn in cold seasons, in this state, just 

 before a frost, and saved it well ; when it 

 would have been worthless had the frost 

 struck it. When there is a prospect of a 

 cold frosty night, or in the evening, when the 

 frost is at hand, corn may be saved by cutting 

 immediately and laying it in heaps on the 

 ground, as then only a little at the top will 

 be affected by frost. Fine warm weather 

 generally succeeds the first frosts, and the 

 I corn will ripen in the shock. But if it be 

 killed by frost when in the milk, it is not 

 good, even for hogs. — Farm. Jour. 



Let no man be trusted in his professions of 

 attachment and devotion to the people, who 

 does not show by his own conduct in the rela- 

 tions of private life, that he is just to those that 

 have not a strong arm to enforce their rights; 

 and that he has an ear for the claims of those 

 that speak their wants and distresses only in 

 whispers and sighs. 



