128 



Effects of Camphor on Vegetables. 



Vol. V. 



good growth of clover can be sustained, wheat 

 may be grown in turn, but it must not often 

 intrude on those worn-out lands, unless stable 

 manure can be applied ; neither ought any 

 kind of grain, buckwheat excepted, to be fre- 

 quently introduced on those old exhausted 

 lands, without the application of manure. 

 But the owners of such extensive plantations 

 would do much better to till less land, and 

 let a greater number of acres lie in grass ; it 

 cannot be profitable to raise ten bushels of 

 corn per acre, when its price is so low as at 

 present; but if they will fill their soil with 

 vegetable matter, lay the greatest portion of 

 their lands to grass and keep more stock, they 

 may obtain fifty bushels of corn to the acre 

 instead of ten, and twenty or thirty bushels 

 of wheat in lieu of eight. 



As all plants obtain a portion of their food 

 through the leaf, we can enrich a soil by 

 growing any one kind thereon and burying it 

 under the sod ; but as there- is a great differ- 

 ence in plants, as to their power of obtaining 

 nutriment through the leaf, and consequently 

 of drawing from the soil, by selecting those 

 which not only appear to be qualified by their 

 organization, but which, on actual trial, are 

 found to exhaust the soil but little, we pro- 

 ceed with confidence in our theory, confirmed 

 by actual practice, and raise up plants out of 

 the earth to be returned to it, to enrich it an 

 hundred fold." 



So far the Cultivator, for whose interesting 

 and highly valuable paper, on so important a 

 subject, the agricultural public are much in- 

 debted. It ought not to be forgotten, how- 

 ever, that no crops exhaust (comparatively) 

 the soil, until they begin to blossom and per- 

 fect their seeds; blossom-buds are not fur- 

 nished with returning sap-vessels, and it is 

 therefore that they exhaust the soil. 



J. C. 



Effects of Camphor on Vegetables. 



The stimulating effects of camphor upon 

 the human and other animal bodies are well 

 known ; but those on vegetables are not only 

 new, but astonishing in their nature. A piece 

 of the woody stem of the tulip-tree, with one 

 flower and two leaves, taken out of a pot of 

 water, containing several other flowers of the 

 same plant, all, to appearance, in the same 

 state, was placed in eight ounces of water, 

 which had been stirred up for some time, with 

 one scruple of good camphor. In a little 

 while an unusually lively appearance became 

 remarkable in the flower in the camphor; 

 while the others, though they had the benefit 

 of a larger quantity of water, were sensibly 

 drooping. The two leaves first elevated them- 

 selves considerably on their foot-stalks; the 

 flower expanded more than in a natural state ; 



the stamina occhives receded from the pistil- 

 lum ; and the tliree leaves of the calyx, or 

 flower-cup, were remarkably reflected back, 

 and grew extremely rigid and elastic. The 

 internal surface of the petals of the flowers 

 perspired considerably, though a similar per- 

 spiration could not be perceived in the flowers 

 of the same room and temperature. The 

 camphorated plant continued in a very invi- 

 gorated state for two whole days, after which 

 it began to droop ; but the leaves drooped and 

 decayed sooner than the flower. The other 

 flowers and leaves of the tulip-tree left in 

 simple water, did not live more than half as 

 long as that in the water impregnated with 

 camphor. 



Notwithstanding these surprising effects, 

 no odour of camphor could be traced in any 

 other part of the branch, except what was 

 immersed in the fluid. This circumstance 

 seems to render it probable that the camphor 

 was not absorbed by the plant, but that it ex- 

 erted its influence entirely through the solids 

 to which it was immediately applied. The 

 appearance, however, was very striking, and 

 might be compared to the beneficial effects 

 of opium on the human constitution. Seve- 

 ral other experiments were made with cam- 

 phor on plants, in all of which it was very 

 evident that camphor operated as a powerful 

 and wliolesome stimulant. 



A stalk of yellow iris, with one expanded 

 flower, was taken out of a pliial of water in 

 which it had been placed more than a day. 

 The flower had begun to droop; but, in a 

 very few minutes after being put in a phial 

 of the same size containing a few grains of 

 camphor, it began to revive, and continued in 

 a vigorous state for many hours. As cam- 

 phor is but very sparingly soluble in water, it 

 is natural to conclude that the stimulant 

 effects were produced by a very small part 

 of the quantity mingled with the water. 

 This discovery might induce us to make ex- 

 periments with camphor as a manure, if the 

 expense of trying them on a scale suffi- 

 ciently large were not excessive. But still, 

 we may apply the camphor in the manner be- 

 fore mentioned. A few grains of camphor, 

 acting as a cordial, will revive a drooping 

 plant, increase its beauty and prolong its ex- 

 istence. In the eye of the florist, these are 

 objects of no mean importance. — Burt. 



" If men will be miserable, let them reckon 

 with their consciences, and not bay the moon 

 and deem nature withered and wrinkled — 

 they might be happy, but for themselves — 

 let all things bright and fair witness against 

 them. The aspect of external things is 

 affected greatly by the state of our minds, 

 for if there be disquietude within, all will ap- 

 pear gloomy without.'''' 



