1837.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



687 



that they should not have been completely de- 

 stroyed by it. Had I sappof5ed it probable that a 

 seed, which was boiled for 15 minutes, would have 

 germinated, 1 should have boiled some of the 

 others still longer, in order to ascertain the ex- 

 treme limit to which such severe treatment might 

 be carried without destroyinij the vital principle." 

 In pursuance of this subject, at the Bristol 

 meetini;, " Mr. Hope mentioned a practice, com- 

 mon in sodie [)arts of S|)ain. of baking corn to a 

 certain extent, by exposing it to a temperature of 

 150°, or upwards, lor the pur|)ose ol'destroying an 

 insect by which it was liable to be attacked. Dr. 

 Richardson mentioned, that the seeds sold in Chi- 

 na for the European market, were previously boil- 

 ed, (or the purpose of destroying their vitality, as 

 the jealousy of that people made them anxious to 

 prevent their exportation in a state fitted tor germ- 

 ination. Upon sowing these seeds, he had, nev- 

 ertheless, observed some few of them were still 

 capable of vegetating." {Edin. New Phil. Jouni., 

 vol. xxi. Oct. 1S33, p. 333. 



From Loudon's Gardener's Magazine. 



HEATIiVG EY HOT WATER DRAWN UP FRO.U 

 THE BOWELS OF THE EARTH. 



It seems to be now proved beyond dispute, that 

 the temperature of the earth increases from the 

 surface downwards ; and consequently, at a cer- 

 tain depth, the heat of water must be at the boil- 

 ing point ; and at a still greater de|)th, all mate- 

 rials whatever must be in a fluid state. At the 

 meetin<j of the Bristol Association m August, 

 1836, Professor Stevelly suggested the idea of 

 bringing up hot water Irom the bowels of the 

 earth to the surfiice ; and heating houses, manu- 

 fiictories, &c., with it, so as to keep them at a giv- 

 en temperature, in the same manner as is done 

 with the apparatus by water artificially heated. 

 (Z/L Gaz., Sept. 3, 1836, p. 551.) As", at a cer- 

 tain depth, the water must be at such a decree of 

 temperature, as when allowed to expand, it will 

 instantly become high-pressjre steam, it seems 

 not altogether impossible that our stationary steam 

 engines may be supplied with that material with- 

 out the use of fuel ; and hence those who look 

 forward with fear to the period when the coal 

 mines will be exhausted, may derive some small 

 degree of consolation. At all events, it seems not 

 unreasonable to suppose that, if a bore or artesian 

 well is carried so deep as to penetrate into a str;i- 

 tum of water at a sutficient temperature to expand 

 itself into steam, there will be no difficulty in the 

 water ascending to the surfiice. If ever so com- 

 plete a command of water should be obtained by 

 man, in every part of the world, except, of course, 

 the frozen zone, the climate and culture of the 

 whole would be altered: and who can tell 

 what may be the ultimate result of the operations 

 of man, in one way or another, chemically, elec- 

 trically, and mechanically, upon the globe ? 



From Loudou's Gardener's Magazine. 

 BEET CULTURE. 



veryelecjant discourse, which was highly applaud- 

 ed by the members present, and has since been 

 published in a cheap monthly agricullural journal, 

 called L'' u'/gronome. In taking a general review 

 of the present stale of agriculture in France, M. 

 Soulange-Bodin notices the great increase of the 

 culture of the notato; aud he considers the beet 

 as a source of incalculable riches, not only for 

 Prance, but for Europe in general. Of course, the 

 value of the beet depends mainly on the sufjar 

 which can be procured from it, but not altojrether; 

 tor the beet is nmcli better adapted, as a green 

 crop, for feeding cattle in a warm climate, than 

 either the turnip or the potato. The culture of 

 the silkworm, and that of the Saxon merinos, oc- 

 cupy a good deal, also, of public attention; and, 

 lastly, the culture of the Ibrests. MM. Vilmorin, 

 Michaux, Jaume St. Hilaire, Mirbel and Loise- 

 leur Deslongchamps, are represented as continu- 

 ally urging the great importance of introducing all 

 kinds of foreign trees among the indigenous ones 

 in the native forests. Great attention, it appears, 

 is being paid to the study of the insects which at- 

 tack trees; and Michaux is stated to have made 

 some valuable discoveries on the subject : but I re- 

 ler you to L'' jigronojuc. 



M. Soulange-Bodin was some time ago ap- 

 pointed Vice-Secretary to La Societe Royale et 

 Centrale d^ Agriciiltare : and, on the lOlh ot" April 

 last, I had the pleasure of hearing him read a 



From Loudon's Gardener's Magazine. 

 VITALITY OF SEEDS. 



It will be in the recollection of our readers, that, 

 in October 1834, we published some interesting 

 details of the opening of a British tumulus, near 

 MaidenCastle, by Mr. Maclean, who found there- 

 in a human skeleton, and a portion of the contents 

 of the stomach, containing a mass of small seeds, 

 which neither the operation of the gastric juices, 

 nor the lapse of probably twenty centuries, had 

 sufficed to destroy. Many of these seeds have 

 been subjected to various careful experiments, to 

 ascertain whether the vital principle was extinct; 

 and we have the satisfaction of announcing that 

 Professor Lindley has happily succeeded in produ- 

 cing plants from several of these seeds. These 

 plants have confirmed the opinion expressed by 

 the learned professor, on a first inspection of the 

 seeds, that they were those of the rubus idaeus, 

 the common raspberry. The plants are now very 

 vigorous, have produced much (ine fruit this sea- 

 son, and form an object of the greatest curiosity 

 and attraction to horticulturists. This higldy in- 

 teresting circumstance proves the raspberry to be 

 an indigenous plant in this country, growing at a 

 very early period, and then constitutinir an article 

 of ibod. {Dorset Chronicle, as.quoted in the Bath 

 Journal of Sept. 12, 1836.) We have seen the 

 raspbei-ry plant alluded to in the Horticultural So- 

 ciety's garden. The fticts are extremely interest- 

 ing; and we hope Dr. Lindley will compare this 

 case with others of the kind upon record, and fa- 

 vor the world with a memoir on the subject. 



From Loudon's Gardener's Magazine. 

 THE STEAM-PLOUGH AND THE SCOTCH SYS- 

 TEM OF HUSBANDRY. 



At the fifth anniversary of the East Suffolk 

 Agricultural Association, held at Wickham Mark- 

 et, Sept. 8., the most interesting remarks of the 

 evening were the opinions advanced by the presi- 



