274 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



selected "A" as the best corn — for the reason that 

 it contained the least ash. 



As a general rule, grains of the highest quality 

 contain the least percentage of mineral matter or 

 ash. The Iran of wheat contains about ten times 

 as much phosphoric acid and other mineral matter 

 as the flour. The coarser the grain, therefore, the 

 more mineral matter it contains. If, therefore, the 

 above analyses show anything, it is that the corn 

 from the richer land was the poorer sample. 



An immature plant generally contains a higher 

 percentage of ash than one fully developed. Tur- 

 nip leaves contain more ash than the bulbs, while 

 it is well known that they are by no means so 

 nutritious. 



In the article from which our correspondent 

 quotes, we admitted that if a meadow was deficient 

 in plant-food the herbage grown upon it might be 

 deficient in nutritive qualities — from the fact that 

 the more nutritious grasses died out and their place 

 occupied by those of an inferior order. On the 

 other hand, we asserted our belief that the same 

 plant (clover for instance) if grown on land defi- 

 cient in phosphates would contain no less a propor- 

 tion of phosphates than the same plant grown on a 

 soil containing a sufficiency of phosphates. The 

 plant would be smaller, but what there was of it 

 would be as rich in phosphates as the other. 



Our correspondent thinks we are in error, and 

 offers the above analyses of Dr. Peters as evidence 

 of the fact. The corn grown on the rich land con- 

 tained 1.41 per cent, of ash ; that grown on the 

 poor land contained only 0.98 per cent. This fact 

 simply shows that there was more organic matter 

 in the corn grown on the poor land than on the 

 rich land. It indicates, as we have said, that the 

 corn grown on the poor land was more perfectly 

 matured than that grown on the rich land. 



The percentage composition of the two ashes is 

 not given ; but we can get at it by calculation. 

 Thus, 98 parts of the ash from the corn grown on 

 the poor land contained nearly 28^ parts of potash. 

 This is equal to 29 per cent. On the other hand 

 the 141 parts ot ash from the corn grown on the 

 rich land contained 28f parts of potash. This is 

 equal to only 20 per cent. The same calculation 

 shows that the ash from the corn grown on the 

 poor land contained over 35 per Gent, of phosphoric 

 acid, while that from the rich land contained only 

 30 per cent. 



According to Dr. Peters' own figures, then, we 

 have the two most important constituents of the 

 ash in greater proportion in the corn from the poor 



land than in that from the rich land. This will be 

 best shown by placing the figures in tabular form : 



PERCENTAGE COMPOSITION OF THE ABH OF COBN. 



(A) (B) 



POOR LAND. KIOH LAND. 



Potash 29 20 



Phosphoric acid 35 80 



What does our correspondent say to these figures ? 

 If the poor soil was deficient in phosphates, it i3 

 evident there was no deficiency in the ash of the 

 corn. In fact, if these analyses can be relied upon, 

 there was more phosphoric acid and potash, in pro- 

 portion to other mineral ingredients, in the corn 

 grown on the poor land than in that grown on the 

 " richest soil in Kentucky." Eds. 



The Beauty of English Farms. — A writer in 

 the Boston Review says : Of the picturesque beauty 

 of English farms it is hardly possible to speak in 

 terms too glowing. At a distance they present the 

 appearance of innumerable parks. As you roam 

 over a particular farm you are struck with the 

 number, size and variety of the trees. The elm, 

 some specimens of which we nurse and guard with 

 so much care on our Common, grows in its native 

 soil to a surpassing magnitude, and is covered with 

 a foliage of exceeding luxuriance. The walnut, 

 whose fruit we import, is also a tree of immense 

 size. "We remember one in a brick yard at Bury 

 St. Edmunds, amid the foliage of which a large 

 house might be entirely hid in leafy June. This 

 particular tree is said to be one of the largest trees 

 in Europe. The magnificent horse-chestnut is 

 found everywhere, of wide-spread and towering 

 dimensions. When you first see it in full foliage, 

 laden to the uppermost twig with its rich conical 

 clusters of blossoms, you are filled with astonish- 

 ment and admiration. 



Homes for the Homeless. — The Hamilton (Iowa) 

 Freeman calls attention to the vacant lands in 

 Northern Iowa in the following strain : 



"If any of our Eastern readers know of a poor 

 man who would ' do well,' if he had a farm of his 

 own, just advise him to set his face at once for 

 Northwestern Iowa, where he can get one hundred 

 and sixty acres of the best land on the continent as 

 a free gift from our beneficent Government. No 

 country in the world, no State in the Union, offers 

 such inducements to the man of small means." 



Steam Engines on Common Roads. — These are 

 being introduced into England. The Mark Lane 

 Express says a short time since one of these engines 

 drew two wagons, weighing with load ton tons, up 

 an inclined plane of 1 in 8. It was stopped and 

 easily started again on the instant. 



