166 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Dr. LiNDLEY, iu Ills new edition of the Theory of 

 Horticulture, gives the following experiment which 

 establishes this important fact : 



Experiment No. I.. — A square box was made of 

 the form represented by the annexed diagram, 

 eighteen inches deep, eleven inches wide at top, and 

 six inches wide at bottom. It was filled with peat 

 saturated with water to c, forming, to that depth, 



(twelve and a half inches) a sort of artificial bog. 

 The box was then filled v?ith water to d. A ther- 

 mometer (a) was plnnsied so that its bulb was 

 within one and a half inch of the bottom. Tlie 

 temperature of the whole mass of peat and water 

 was found to be 39^° Fahr. A gallon of boiling 

 water was then added ; it raised the surface of the 

 water to c. In five minutes the thermometer a 

 rose to 44^, owing to conduction of beat by the 

 thermometer tube, and its guard. At ten minutes 

 from the introduction of tlie hot water the ther- 

 mometer a rose to 46*^, and it subsequently rose no 

 higher. Another thermometer, (h) dipping under 

 the surface of the water at e, was then introduced; 

 and the following are the indications of the two 

 thermometers at the rcsi)ective intervals, reckoning 

 from the time the hot water was supplied: 



Thermometer b. Thermometer a. 

 20 m. . . . ISO" . , . 4:6^ 



1 h. 30 m. ... 201 ... 45 



2 h. 30 m. . . . 80i ... 42 

 12 h. 40 m. . . . 45 ... 40 



Tlie mean temperature of the external air to 

 which the box was exposed during the above period 

 was 42°: the maximum being 47" and the minimum 

 87». 



Experiment No. TI.— 'With the same arrange- 

 ment as in the preceding case, a gallon of boiling 

 water wa<< introduced above the peat and water, 

 when the thermometer a was at 36° ; in ten 

 minutes it rose to 40*. The cock was then turned 

 for the purpose of drainage, which was but slowly 

 ■ effected, and at the end of twenty minutes the 

 thermometer a still indicated 40'-'; at twenty-five 

 minutes 42*^, whil.-t tlie thermometer ft was 142". 

 At thirty Miinutes tlie cock was withdrawn from 

 the box; and more free egress of wat«r being thus 

 afforded, at thirty-five n inutes the flow was no 

 longer continuous, and the thermometer ft indic.i- 

 ted 48". The mass was drained and permeable to 

 a frefib 8Ui)ply of water. 



Accordingly another gallon of boiling water was 

 poured over it, and in 



3 minutes the thermometer a rose to 77' 

 6 " " fell to 76i , 



15 " . " " 71 



20 " " remained at 70^ 



1 h. 50 " " " 70i 



In these two experiments the thermometer at the 

 bottom of the box suddenly rose a few degrees 

 immediately after the hot water was added ; and 

 hence it might be inferred that heat was carried 

 downwards by the water. But in reality the rise 

 was owing to the action of the hot water on the 

 thermometer, and not to its action upon the cold 

 water. To prove this, the perpendiculur thermo- 

 meters were removed. The box was filled with 

 peat and water to within three inches of the top ; 

 a horizontal thermometer (af) having been pre- 

 viously secured through a hole made in the side of 

 tiie box by means of a tiglit-fitting cork, in which 

 tlie naked stem of the thermometer was grooved. 

 A gallon of boiling water was then adt'ed. The 

 thermometer, a very delicate one, made by New- 

 man, was 7iot in the least affected by the boiling 

 water in the top of the box. 



In this experiment, the wooden box is afield; 

 the peat and cold water represent the water-logged 

 portion ; rain falls on the surface and becomes 

 warmed by contact with the soil and thus heated 

 descends. But it is stopped by the cold water, and 

 tiie beat will go no further. But if the soil is 

 drained and not water-logged, the warm raia 

 trickles through the crevices in the earth, carrying 

 to the drain-level the high temperature it had 

 gained on the surface, parts with it to the soil as it 

 passes down, and thus j)roduce3 that bottom heat 

 which is so essential to plants, although so few 

 suspect its existence. 



HOW TO ENRICH A GARDEN. 



A GENTLEMAN of this city recently applied touB 

 for information in regard to manuring liis garden. 

 He has an acre of naturally good land, but it has 

 been neglected. He is determined to enrich it 

 and have a good garden "regardless of cost." 



" Your best way," we said, " will be to buy ma- 

 nure in the city." 



"But I cannot get a load without picking it up 



here and there. The nurserymen have contracts 

 for it, and sweep the board." 



" Then you must use artificials." 



"What kinds?" 



" All things considered, superphosphate of lime 

 and sulphate of ammonia, are the best and cheap- 

 est." 



"What will they cost?" 



" Delivered here the former will cost about 3 

 cents per lb., and the latter 7 cents. You will 

 want about 800 lbs. of sulphate of ammonia, and 

 400 lbs. superphosphate. This will make your gar- 

 den, for one year at least, as rich as you can desire. 

 Sow the sulphate of ammonia broadcast after th* 



