540 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Dec, 



For the New England Farmer. 



MATURING PLANTS. 



liV A. G. COMINGS. 



Some months since, I furnished a short article 

 for the Farmer on Maturing Plants. It was the 

 leading object of my article to excite discussion 

 upon various ideas which I asserted in what was 

 then written. In the weekly Farmer of October 

 14, is a communication from Mr. Rufus McIx- 

 TiiiE, upon the " dogmas " of my communication 

 before referred to. Having been from home, a 

 mouth passed without my possessing any know- 

 ledge of Mr. Mclntire's communication. Of 

 course it could not receive an answer from me, 

 unless I possessed an ability to judge a matter 

 before hearing it. I believe fully in the right of 

 every man to call every assertion of principle or 

 fact in question, until he can gain satisfactory 

 evidence of its truth. A man is not at liberty to 

 'i'-ny any thing merely iiecause it lacks proof. 

 To deny, he must be armed and prepared to dis- 

 prove what is asserted. 



I do not understand Mr. Mclntire to deni/ what 

 I have asserted, positively'; although some ex- 

 pressions may have such a look. He places him- 

 self in the attitude of investigation — he says, in 

 substance, that, if tliese things are true, he is 

 blindfolded — he wants " more light." This is all 

 right. I hope farmers will pursue this course 

 freely and constantly. I would, therefore, thank 

 Mr. M. for his shot at the target which had been 

 put up for him. I had, to my mind, full evidence 

 of the correctness of the ideas advanced ; hut I 

 did not imagine that the mass of those who ought 

 to be interested in them, if true, would readily 

 give credit to them. 



There is in Mr. M."s communication some sound 

 of what Phrenologists call " s?i«p." No objection 

 to that — not the least. It is a poor gun that has 

 uo snap to it. It would not kill a lion nor a 

 louse, a tiger nor a toad, if killing were ever so 

 necessary. 



To reply to him, wc must hear him talk. Then 

 :v little talk may be made in answer. 



1. Mr. M. says, " He remarks that a soil that 

 contains no carbon in the form of vegetable matter 

 or otherwise, cannot matui'e seed, though a stock 

 may be produced, and instances the growth of 

 wheat straw with worthless seed, and extends the 

 same remarks to corn, rye and oats. Whei-e can 

 a soil be found, that any former would till, des- 

 titute of vegetable matter 1 " 



Answer. Clay may be taken from any depth 

 IjcIow where there is any vegetable matter, and 

 clay-loam, also, and clover will grow in it readily, 

 l)ut at first in a dwarfish state. The fact rests 

 ujK)n positive proof. The clover contains carbon. 

 Where does it come from? The small amount 

 contained in the seed, under the influence of heat 

 and moisture, begins the work of growth — then it 

 ai)propriates its mineral elements from the soil — 

 then opens its tiny leaves and feeds on carbon from 

 the air, in the shape of gas. 



The clover grows tap- rooted. The root itself 

 contains more carbon than many seeds. The 

 blade also contains much. The root is exceed- 

 ingly insignificant in size, until the leaves are 

 spread into the air. When the leaves are fully 

 '>ut, then the root immediately shows, by the 

 rapidity of its growth, a new accumulation of 

 power for progress. 



If our world has been created, and the earth 

 brought forth vegetation according to the Scrip- 

 ture accounts^ all the carbon of the vegetable 

 matter of tlie whole world has been derived from 

 the air. From experiments which I have made, 

 and circumstances of vegetable existence which I 

 have known and examined, the conclusion is to 

 me irresistible, tliat all the elements necessary to 

 the growth, maturity and perfection of every kind 

 of vegetable, is contained in the air, the rain, and 

 the earthy matter of the soil. If so, (he elements 

 which lie dormant in the subsoil, with those con- 

 tained in the rain and air, need only to become 

 com))ined properly, and disengaged from impeding 

 difficulties and affinities, to constitute a fit state 

 of the soil for any service of vegetable life. 



In 1853, I raised the finest, largest and best 

 savoy cabbages that I ever saw, where the soil, to 

 the depth of about a foot and a half, was made 

 entirely from the subsoil taken from below the 

 reach of roots of plants or trees, so that it con- 

 tained no vegetable matter. To this no vegetable 

 matter was applied in any form. Mineral ma- 

 nures only were applied. 



In answer to Mr. M.'s first question, then, I 

 will say, every vvliere that a good subsoil can be 

 found, if the vegetable matter is all gone, the 

 intelligent farmer can cultivate with hope. He 

 must not expect more than a dwarfish growth at 

 first, of grain or grass ; and that to fall below the 

 production of seed, except in case of the top- 

 rooted plants, which may produce a small quan- 

 tity of seed, especially if biennial. But to expect 

 the fibrous rooted plants to grow and produce seed 

 under such circumstances, such as wheat, rye, 

 oats or corn, is out of the question. 



2. Again, Mr. M. says, " Experience shows the 

 uncertainty of a crop of wheat and the certainty 

 of a crop of corn on the same soil. How will 

 Mr. Comings account for this difJerence ? " 



Ans. There may be a variety of reasons for 

 this. Indian corn may do well upon soil which 

 contains so small a quantity of salt, or soda and 

 chlorine, that wheat would not come to maturity. 

 A few years ago I had some wheat precisely in 

 this predicament. It began to lose color before 

 the seed began to form, and gave clear evidt'nce 

 of failure. Upon a part of it I sowed fine salt, 

 at the rate of a bushel and a half or more to the " 

 acre. The rest of it I left to its fate. Where the 

 salt was applied, the wheat recovered and ma- 

 tured finely. The rest was dwarfed. In other 

 cases, other causes would prevent the success of 

 wheat, where corn would succeed. 



Then again, corn will fail in some places where 

 wheat does finely. Tliere are many princij^les 

 operating, any one of which may produce such 

 results. The farmer who will understand the 

 wfti/ of success or failure in all these things, will 

 know that which he ought to know, to be a true 

 farmer. 



3. Again Mr. M. "He remarks that a good 

 crop of turnips, or cabbage, can be produced 

 with a small amount of vegetable matter in the 

 soil, but that seeds of them cannot be raised on 

 such soil. I would respectfully ask, what are his 

 proofs of this position 1 " 



A?is. Various and repeated experiments prove 

 the growth of turnips and cabbages to require the 

 earthy or mineral elements most at first ; that 

 tiiey then draw largely from the atmosphere ; 



