56 



Stone Coal — Agriculture. 



Vol. XL 



of man were unalloyed with misery — but in 

 this case as in all others, there is a dark as 

 well as a bright side of the picture. It is 

 my province to show this up as well as the 

 other. 



I am induced to believe that much mis- 

 chief is caused by the increase of carbonic 

 acid, caused by the consumption of stone 

 coal. There can be no doubt that it vitiates 

 the air, and renders it less fit for respiration, 

 resulting in weak constitutions, and perhaps 

 in a great loss of health. But its ill effects 

 do not stop here. The excessive supplies of 

 this material to the vegetable creation, cause 

 plethora and other diseases in plants, when 

 those plants are not prepared for its recep- 

 tion. The carbonic acid possesses infectious 

 properties, which have a tendency, when 

 nothing prevents, to cause the plant to de- 

 cay, and this brings on disease and death. 

 This decay in this, as in all carboniferous 

 substances, commences with the saccharine 

 fermentation, which produces a sweet sub- 

 stance — this sweet substance attracts insects, 

 which bore into the plants, destroy ing their or- 

 ganism, and hastening that death which is ra- 

 pidly approaching; or assisting to produce 

 it, when the vital power of the plant would 

 perhaps be sufficient to prevent it, if it had 

 nothing but the carbonic acid to resist; but 

 when suffering from both causes combined, 

 is unable to v.-ithstand the shock. As this 

 decay progresses, if it be much accelerated, 

 putrefaction takes place, producing a sub- 

 stance which is the favourite food of the 

 fungi. The seeds of these fungi being pre- 

 sent wherever vegetation is, take root and 

 grow; and thus, by depriving the plant of a 

 part of its nourishment, and by destroying 

 its organism, hasten that death which would 

 otherwise require more time. We may see 

 this effect produced all around us at this 

 early day, and it is yearly growing worse 

 and worse ; and unless it is stopped or 

 checked, the effect will, in a kv,' years, be 

 disastrous. It is this cause which is year 

 after year destroying our potatoe crops. It 

 is this tiiat rusts and smuts our wheat — that 

 ergots and blights our rye — that mildews 

 buckwheat — induces the insects to attack 

 our fruit trees — causes the mildew to attack 

 our grapes, and destroys the hopes of many 

 who have laboured for years in planting and 

 rearing orchards and graperies. It is this 

 that causes fruit trees to drop tlieir fruit be- 

 fore it ripens — it effects this in part by mak- 

 ing the sap sweet and inviting the presence 

 of insects, and partly by diseasing the tree. 

 It is this that causes the fruit to shrivel up 

 and not attain half its size, and in this and 

 in other ways lessens the produce of the tree. 

 It also causes timber to be predisposed to 



rot, and thus decreases its utility. It is felt 

 most severely, however, at the present time, 

 in its effects on the potatoe crop. Thou- 

 sands upon thousands of bushels of this valu- 

 able esculent have been thus lost every year; 

 and, if I am not much mistaken, the loss 

 will be unusually severe this season. This 

 is truly a deplorable picture, and one which, 

 if accompanied by no ameliorating circum- 

 stances, would be of a painful nature. 

 If there were no way of avoiding these re- 

 sults than that of preventing the mining and 

 using of stone coal, the extremely bad re- 

 sults would justify even this severe measure. 

 But thanks to the noble science of agricul- 

 tural chemistry, we are so placed that, so 

 far from this powerful agent doing us harm, 

 we may so direct it that it may do good, and 

 good only. By the judicious use of alkaline 

 substances, &c., the vegetable creation may 

 be so assisted as to be able to assimilate all 

 of this carbonic acid, and thus fix it in such 

 manner that it will be powerless to do ill, 

 and all the good that it can do will be se- 

 cured to the animal creation. By the use 

 of lime, ashes, salt, and other alkaline sub- 

 stances, plants will be able to absorb all the 

 carbonic acid; and in such manner that dis- 

 ease may be prevented, and the attacks of 

 insects and fungi be warded off. By placing 

 pulverized charcoal in the soil, the carbonic 

 acid and ammonia which is conveyed to the 

 earth by rain, snow, &c., will be absorbed by 

 it, and thus be prevented from being absorbed 

 by the plant to its injury. This charcoal 

 will hold the carbonic acid and ammonia 

 until the plant can use it, when the plant by 

 its roots can extract it from the charcoal, 

 and leave the charcoal to absorb a fresh sup- 

 ply, whenever that supply is more abundant 

 than suffices the plant at the time of the de- 

 posit of the carbonic acid and ammonia. 

 Charcoal possesses the power, to an eminent 

 degree, of absorbing these substances, as 

 you will perceive by reading my communi- 

 cation on that subject, as contained in the 

 Cabinet of January last. To agricultural 

 chemistry, then, is due the credit of saving 

 us from an event that would otherwise over- 

 whelm us, but which may now prove of in- 

 calculable good. 



Yours, &c,, 



Chemico. 



Wilkesbarre, July 28tli, 1846. 



In pruning shrubs, vines, &c., special ob- 

 servance should be paid to neatness. Al- 

 ways cut near a bud, for whatever remains 

 beyond, is certain to die, and has ever an 

 unsightly appearance. 



