653 



FARMERS' REGIS 



R, 



[No. 9 



tives of M, Macnire* iind highly value his experi- 

 mental labors, which at. one time, appeared to me, 

 to be so comprehensive, tiiat I parlly determined 

 to undertake a series of a similar nature. However, 

 tvhen I wiinessad the results of my own in ^'esliga- 

 tions, and reasoned upon ihe diumelrieally opposite 

 effects f)roduc.cd by the same agents when applied 

 under varying circunistimL-es, I resolved to rely 

 upon the observation dl' natural phenomena in my 

 endeavor to substantiate the theory of the excre- 

 tory powers of plants. If, wheii in soil, they ab- 

 sorb nutritive matter, and reject poisonous substan- 

 ces ; and, on the olher hand, if, when taken Irorn 

 the soil or from water, with their roots in perlect 

 health and security, they die at once, or dwindle- 

 away, when immersed in thos^ very fluids which 

 are innocuous to them as long as their roots are 

 surrounded by earth ; then, I think it perfectly 

 fair and rational to conclude, that 710 ceriaf/i k/?- 

 erring deductions can be drawn in respect to tke 

 quantiiy or quality of the radical excretions, from 

 observations or experiments made upon plants, the 

 naked roots of which are immersed either rn water 

 or in chemical fluids. Beans, wheat, pease, and 

 other vegetables, have germinated in water, and 

 matters have been emitted by their roots, which 

 afforded certain given results, on the application of 

 chemical tests and re-agents ; but I would inquire, 

 can any one venture to suppose that the plants 

 thus grown, were in a truly natural situation? 

 were they excited as tliey would have been in soil ? 

 were thej' similarly acted upon by the great natu- 

 ral ixgenip, light, air, loater? Surely not! The 

 granil medium of elaboration — that which connects 

 the fluid oi' the plant with those in the ijround 

 which sustain and nourish it — was absent; in a 

 word, earth and soil were wanting ; and as without 

 these, not one vegetable being in a thousand, can 

 increase and attain malurily (although many will 

 strike roots in simple water,) it is unphilosophical 

 to conclude, that the vital functions of any plant 

 can be perlectly carried on in media which dis- 

 qualify it from attaining its lull growth, and entire 

 development of parts. Let us pursue inquiries ; 

 let us add fict to fact, and also adduce analogical 

 reasons from observed jihenoniena ; but, at the 

 same time, let us be exceedingly cautious how we 

 apply or draw conclusions from the application oi' 

 an agency which is opposed to nature, and sub- 

 verts the natural (unctions of a living subject ex- 

 posed to its influence. 



Upon mature reflection, then, I cannot conceive 

 that the vegetable secretion?, which are |)henomena 

 dependent solely upon the vital principle and natu- 

 ral stimuli, will ever be discovered or made mani- 

 fest by the agency of chemical tests and experi- 

 ments. That these secretions, however, are 

 effected by the radical processes of veiretal)les, can 

 scarcely admit of a rational doubt. As a chemist, 

 I may be thought to lose sight of, and prove false 

 to, my early proli^ssion ; but I make no appeal to 

 chemistry, otherwise, than as it enables me to ex- 

 periment upon tractable substances, and thus to 

 deduce legitimate inferences. I love it as a science, 

 but must repeat my conviction, that we can derive 

 very ineilicient aid from the laboratory, when we 

 wish to scrutinize the enerirv of life; all therein is 

 wrapped up in mystery, which the mind and art of 

 man can neither approach nor tmravel. 



If, however, we look at a bed of maiden loam, 

 test it chemically, and then plant it with successive ; 



vegetable crops, we ^hall perceive a gradual 

 change in the color of the soil. This is one main 

 fact. " The assured experience of the benefit de- 

 rived from a change of crop, tvllbrds another; and 

 the advan!a<re of a certain order of rotation yields 

 us a third. To these facts wc may add, the par- 

 ticular aroma that the earth receives; for, though 

 there may be exceptions and many shades of dif- 

 ference, yet we cannot fail to recollect proois of the 

 emission ofcer!ain odorous matters higlily charac- 

 teristic of the vegetable/ with which the ground 

 has been cropped. To these natural phenoment> 

 we must have recourse; and in so doing, if we 

 collect all tiie evidences which are in the power 

 of any active mind to observe, we shall, I believe, 

 find strong analogies in proof, not only of the theo- 

 ry in question, but of another grand |)hilosophical 

 fact, namely, that vegetable beings never exhaust a 

 soil, that the densest sward of grass adds vigour 

 and power to the earth of the, meadow, and that 

 weeds — poor despised weeds — linsightlyas they 

 appear, are not only liarbingers of plenty, and 

 prove the goodness of the soil ihey so speedily and 

 unaccountably cover, but add richf s to it, and a 

 fund of nutriment lor other and more refined crops. 

 Let us turn our eyes-to the scarcely hall-weeded 

 garden of the cottager, and compare the enor- 

 mous crops of bulky cabbages, healthy sound po- 

 tatoes, onions, &c. with the comparatively poor 

 and dwindlcil produce of a niore wealthy neiirh- 

 bor, whose garden is seldom permitted to be dis- 

 graced by the presence of an uusi<rhtly weed. Let 

 me not, however, be misunderstood. I am an 

 advocate lor cleanliness, industry, and order; and 

 I know that native weeds may overpower a crop, 

 and deprive it of Lolar. electrical, and a?rial influ- 

 ences ; but do not let us be so uiJ))hilosophical as 

 to suppose that these sturdy natives impoverish. 

 All we have to do is to watch their progress in the 

 garden and the field, and never to suili^r them to 

 become masters. It is the duty of the farmer and 

 the gardener to hail the presence of weeds as an 

 evidence of a- fertilizing principle, and then, by 

 watchfulness and industry, to convert them to ma- 

 nure. But I shall not enlarge on this subject now. 



REPORT OF TIIE ENGINEER OF TIIE EASTERIf 

 SHORE RAIL ROAD. 



Washington City, Xovembcr 10, 1836. 



To the Commissioners appointed to survey the 

 route of tl'.e Kastern Shore Rail Road : 



Gentlemen, — Of the various surveys which have 

 been made under your direction for the purpose of 

 ascertaining the best route lor a rail road on the 

 Eastern Shore of JMaryland, conformably to the 

 several acts and resolutions of December session,- 

 1835, the one which I have selected as the basis of 

 the preliminary estimates, begins at the Wiln)ing- 

 ton and Susqueh/inna Rail Road, near the town of 

 Elkton, and continuing throuLHiout its whole course 

 within the state, crosses the Chesapeake and Dela- 

 ware Canal a finv hundreil yiirds west of the pivot 

 bridi^e, and after passing a little to the west of the 

 head of Bohemia and Sassali-as Rivers, thence by 

 the head of Chester or JMillington, and the head of 

 Choptard< or Greensborough, and by the North 

 West J>rancli, eastward of the Bloomery, to the 

 Nanticoke River, which it crosses between Sharp- 



