456 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 8 



The actual outlay, in mone)', is therefore 25s. the 

 load, to which must be added the expense of the 

 team accordinof to the distance to which it is to be 



the LeguminacefP. It was brought to England 

 in 1712, and it is here considered a stove plant. It 

 generally cultivated in the warmer parts of 



carried, which may be safely estimated at about North and South America, but is supposed to be 



10s. at the lowest ; and as every farmer is bound 

 by his lease — or even by the custom of the coun- 

 try if only holding his land upon a common agree- 

 ment — to carry back a load of dunff, or other 

 equally efficient manure in return, that will cost 

 about 4s. more ; so that the whole charge cannot 

 be calculated at less than somewhere about 2/. per 

 load. This account differs but little from that 

 furnished by Mr. Middleton in his survey of Mid- 

 dlesex ; but he estimates the entire expense of 

 manuring once in three years, also those of tiihes, 

 taxes, aud field-labor; thus making the whole 

 charge amount to 51. 5s. per acre, exclusive of 

 rent.* 



From tlie (London) Gardener's Magazine. 



OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS ON THE 

 PROPERTY POSSESSED BY SOME PLANTS, 

 PARTICULARLY THE a'rACHIS HYPOGiE^A, 

 [ground pea] of RIPENING THEIR FRUIT 

 UNDER GROUND. 



There are some plants that have the singular 

 property of ripening their fruit under ground, 

 which are distinguished by botanists by the name 

 of Hypocarpogeft^. Why n;iture has provided 

 them with this property is not known ; but it has 

 been supposed to be similar in its uses to that pos- 

 sessed by some other plants, which, though they 

 ripen their seeds in the open air, are guided by 

 nature to deposite them only m the places most 

 suitable to their germination and developement ; 

 by which means species are propagated that it 

 would be difficult in any othei manner to preserve. 

 Even the Linaria Cymbalaria wodd soon become 

 rare, did it not throw out its branches, and open its 

 capsules over those fissures of the walls on which 

 it grows, which are suitable for the protection of 

 the young plant; whereas, if its seed fell on the 

 ground, it would be placed in circumstances so un- 

 favorable to its germination, that it would proba- 

 bly perish. Without some such provision, how 

 could steep rocks be so frequently covered with 

 cyclamens, &c7 



There are plants, however, growing in situa- 

 tions where no particular provision of nature is re- 

 quired to prevent them from perishing, which yet 

 form their fruit under ground ; or, at least, bury it 

 in the earth to bring it to maturity : though in 

 what way this is eflected, and how the earth ope- 

 rates upon the fi-uit, as far as I know, has never 

 been explained. 



To solve this difliculty, or, at least, io throw 

 some light on the subject, I determined to culti- 

 vate the ^'rachis hypog;eVi, a plant which, per- 

 haps, possesses the quality in question in a greater 

 degree than any other. I had thus an opportuni- 

 ty of making observations and tryino; experiments, 

 the result of which I sli:dl proceed to stato, first 

 givinir a short description of the general habits of 

 arachis, which will facilitate the comprehension 

 of the subject. 



The A'rachis hypogce^a, or earth nut, is one of 



* Middlesex Rep. 2nd edition, p. 290. 



originally from Africa. In South Carolina, the 

 seeds are used as chocolate ; in the eastern coun- 

 tries, as almonds ; and in Cocliin-China they fur- 

 nish an oil used for lamps, and as a substitute for 

 the oil of olives. About Paris, it is raised on hot 

 beds, and transplanted into the oj;en garden, 

 where it ripens Us seeds, which are used as other 

 legumes. It has also been brought to maturity in 

 a stove in Enijland, and proved very prolific. — 

 (See Jlorl. Trans., vol. v. p. 372.) 



The greater number of the flowers of the ara- 

 chis originate in that portion of the stem which is 

 nearest to the surface of the soil ; some, however, 

 are to be found a little higher up, in the axils of" 

 the leaves. The calyx of these fiowers fi)rms a 

 tube at the lower end, which resenii)lcs a pedun- 

 cle. The style is enclosed in it, and it terminates 

 in a little ovary, at first sessile, and placed at the 

 base of the tube. After being fecundated, the 

 flower withers and fiills off, and a small tubercle 

 is found adhering to the stem, which, by degrees, 

 assumes a longer shape, like that of a little horn, 

 and turning downwards, penetrates into the soil, 

 or sinks deeper, if it has already entered it. This 

 little horn (which is nothing more than the fecun- 

 dated seed attached to a peduncle) increases in 

 the earth, becoming larger towards its point, till, 

 by degrees, it assumes the appearance of the le- 

 gume, or seed-pod, of the arachis. 



From knowing that, in general, the parts of 

 plants which are under the soil are either roots 

 themselves, or are fiirnished with fibrils, and that 

 they can only derive nourishment from the soil by 

 their sponfjioles, the idea struck me, that the fi-uit 

 of the arachis might have an analogy with roots, 

 or might exercise a similar function in some de- 

 gree : and I very soon, by observing the plant at- 

 tentivel}', discovered even with the naked eye, a 

 small tubercle on the extreme point of each le- 

 gume, which on examining it with a glass, and 

 afterwards with a microscope, I found to be ana- 

 logous with, though it was much more distinct 

 than the spongiole of a root. This is more appa- 

 rent when the pod has penetrated the ground, and 

 begins to develope itself, decreasing in thickness 

 as the seed which it contains approaches maturity. 

 From the point where the tubercle, or spongiole, 

 appears, there are salient lines, which mark the 

 legume longitudinally ; and which appear to be 

 formed of small bundles of vessels, or of elonga- 

 ted cellules. 



These observations apply, not only to the ara- 

 chis, to which new and suitable organs of absorp- 

 tion are necessary for its re-production, but to the 

 bulb of the saffron, which essentially differs but 

 little from seed, and which is known lo throw out 

 large fusiliirm roots fi'om its base ; a circumstance 

 that I consider to afford additional support to my 

 oi)inion. 



Subsequent experiments have confirmed the 

 opinion which the above observations first led me 

 to entertain. By means of a slone placed under 

 the legume, it was prevented fi-oni penetrating into 

 the ground, when it was Ibuiul to become elonira- 

 ted, and to try to change its direction ; but, finally, 

 not being able lo reach the earth it withered and 

 dried up. This convinced me that the legumes of 



