1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



221 



e.vperience, fully counteract the salivating property 

 oithc clov(^r. 



As "A Siibgcriber'" rcmarlcg, I liavc found horses 

 tired of. and sonielinic.-j aho^jethor rollipc pore clo- 

 ver hay; but I never knew such to be the case 

 when properly mixed with other crraf^s*?*?- When 

 clover is sown (or the sole [lurpose of improvinix 

 the soil, probably sowing it unmixed may be best; 

 but when intended either for soilinof or lor hay, 

 much and decided advantage would be derived 

 from a free mixture ol other grasses. 



In Great Britain, the term clover hay is applied 

 to all hay sown, when so much mixed as to con- 

 tain ti'om one third to one half of its entire bulk of 

 other grasses, and in many cases, even more. 



N.L. 



Form the Ilorticuluiral Register. 



FACTS IN REGARD TO THE GER3IINATION OP 

 SEEDS. 



* * * * At one of their meetings. 

 Count Sternberg offered some information on the 

 sprouting and gro\vth of grains of wheat which 

 had been found in the cases of Egyptian mum- 

 mies. The first attempt to vivily the wheat by 

 previous immersion in weak acid failed, owing, as 

 it appeared, to great age having rendered the out- 

 side skin of the grain so tender, that the floury 

 portion of the seed soon liquified; and water alone 

 produced the same effect. The next trial was 

 made by dipping the grains into oil, and then 

 planting them pretty deep in the garden pots 

 placed in a saucer partly filled with water; this 

 was successful, and two plants were produced, one 

 of which was placed in the open ground, the other 

 received the protection of the greenhouse. Of 

 course much curiosity was excited on the question 

 of the species of wheat common in those early pe- 

 riods. The plant exposed in the open air was 

 much injured by frost and hail, but late in the sea- 

 son produced a lew ripe ears. That in the green- 

 house flourished and produced several heads whicfi 

 underwent minute examination, and proved to be 

 what is now called Talavera Wheat; its botanical 

 character is Triticum vulgare — spica loxa, mutica, 

 alba, glabra. It was incidentally mentioned that 

 grains of Indian corn had been fijund in the tombs 

 of some of the Incas of Peru, which had been 

 brought to vegetate. 



The conversation subsequently took-a very in- 

 teresting turn on the subject of the powers of ve- 

 getation of seeds, particularly of the grasses gath- 

 ered in an unripe state. Dr. Kurr of Stuttgardt, 

 stated that he had succeeded in sprouting seeds of 

 \vheat gathered immediately after the blossom 

 was over. 



Professor IMohl repeated the observation of De 

 Candolle, that in these cases vegetation took place 

 quicker, as the process of the return of the floury 

 part of the seed into a saccharine state was there- 

 by rendered unnecessary. To iniderstand this ob- 

 servation, it is perhaps necessary to state, that pre- 

 vious to ripening, the seeds of most grasses are 

 milky and sweetish; the act of ripening changes 

 this milk into a farinaceous or floury substance, 

 destitute of sweetness but fit for food. Just be- 

 fore the seeds which are committed to the earth, 

 sprout, this farinaceous substance again becomes 

 sweet, and it is probable that this saccharine juice 

 is the first food of the young shoots. The opera- 



lion of making malt for the brewer, is the actior* 



of producing this last change — the barley is soak- 

 ed ur.til it just sproutSj tlie farther vegetation is 

 llien stopped by a drying heat, the floury part of 

 the grain becomes saccharine, and when steeped 

 in hot wat«r produces a sweet liquor which lee-- 

 nients, and is beer. 



From Loudon's Gardeners' Magazine;. 

 CRIMSON CLOVER TRIFOLIUBI INCARNATUM. 



The cultivation of this plant is, we are glad to 

 hear, spreading rapidly; and it is in some parts of 

 the country very generally taking the place of 

 tares, as it produces a much greater quantity of 

 fijod, and does not require much more than a tenth 

 of the labor bestowed in preparing the ground 

 and sowing it. It also comes in a ftirtnight ear- 



r 



Iter. 



From the Yankee Farmer. 

 THE MAGIC ONION. 



It is sometimes called the Canada, sometimes 

 the-tree, or top onion. This is a singular plant, 

 and deserves cultivation, not ordy lor its domestic 

 use, but also as an object of curiosity. All other 

 plants raised in the garden are oviparous, or in 

 other words, re-produce their species from seeds 

 or eggs, but this alone is viviparous, and brings 

 forth its young alive; in clusters of lour or five, 

 around the parent stalk. These continue to en- 

 large, until their weight brings them to the earthy 

 where if not prevented, they take root, and the- 

 maternal stalk now becomes useless, dries oflj 

 and the next season, these in their turn be- 

 come parents, and re-produce a numerous proge- 

 ny.* 



Tliis species of onion is raised with less art than 

 the other. If you would them in perfection, make 

 your ground ready as for the other kind; then 

 stretch a line ten inches from the alley, and with 

 a small Iroe make a furrow two inches deep; in 

 the bottom of this place set the top bulbs, or infant 

 onions, five or six inches apart with their points or 

 heads uppermost; then fill up the drill with the 

 hand or broad hoe. This done, reniove the line 

 back a foot, and in the same manner plant as 

 many as you please. In setting out these bulbs, 

 you should not |)lace the large and small ones pro- 

 miscuously together, but separate the large Iroia 

 the small, and plant them in different rows; lor 

 the largest will generally become breeders, this 

 season, while the small one will enlarge and 

 swell into beautiful onions, fit for any use in the 

 kitchen. 



The magic onions intended for seed, or breed- 

 ers, should be two years old and the largest and 

 best of their kind. They must on no account stand 

 near the other species of seed onions, for they will 

 degenerate, and a mongrel race ensue. 



* This curious manner of being propagated is not 

 peculiar to this onion. It is possessed also by that pest, 

 the wild garlic, in addition to the increase of the latter 

 by new roots (or tubers) which commence their 

 irrowth under £rround. — Ed. Far. Reg. 



