No. 1. 



Galvanic Experiments on Vegetation. 



11 



transferred by a sort of rope-ladder from the 

 island to a boat, which lies at the outer edge 

 of the surf, and from thence it is daily emp- 

 tied into the hold of the vessel, which is 

 anchored at a short distance. Ten men will 

 litl about fifteen tons per day, but the opera- 

 tion is a very laborious one, and the sun i 

 so powerful that few of the crews escape 

 without having their faces and hands blis- 

 tered, so that the outer skin is peeled off. 

 When Captain Farr lefl Ichaboe, he esti- 

 mated the guano deposit on that island 

 alone, to extend one thousand feet in length, 

 by five hundred in breadth, with an average 

 depth of thirty-five feet, containing, perhaps, 

 from seven hundred thousand to eight hun- 

 dred thousand tons. It is evident, therefore, 

 that this supply will soon be exhausted in 

 fertilizing the soil of Great Britain and her 

 dependencies, but it is to be hoped that vast 

 stores of it yet exist, which have hitherto 

 never been disturbed by man. On this sub- 

 ject we quote the following statement from 

 the South African Commercial Advertiser, 

 published at Cape Town, in January last: — 

 " On the rocky headlands, or on tlie rocky 

 and unmolested islands on the west coast, 

 both within and beyond the boundary of this 

 colony, where the sea-fowl from a vast ex- 

 panse of open ocean come to breed, enor- 

 mous masses of this mantfre have recently 

 been discovered ; and it seems probable that 

 all the way up the coast into the Gulf of 

 Guinea, and beyond it, similar treasures 

 await the agriculture of the world, by 

 which means the sea will render back to 

 the land much more matter fitted to form 

 organized, that is, vegetable and animal 

 substances, than the rivers carry down into 

 their depths, or the fleets of the nations de- 

 posit in their course over its surface." — BeWs 

 Messenger. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Galvanic Experiments on Vegetation. 



By Wm. Ross. 



To THE Editor, — I have been exceed- 

 ingly interested in the following paper, 

 which I lately came across in the New 

 York Farmer and Mechanic, and cannot 

 help believing it will be well worth its 

 room in the Cabinet. Truly may we ask 

 what are we coming to, and what will be 

 the next achievement in practical science 1 

 One day we are astonished by the transmis- 

 sion of messages over a track of fifty or a 

 hundred, or a thousand miles, in the twink- 

 ling of an eye, and answers to them returned 

 with the same rapidity — and the next we 

 are gravely assured that the seeds may be 



sown, and the crop grown for a salad while 

 we are discussing other parts of a dinner ! 



At a meeting of the New York Farmer's 

 Club, on the 2nd ult., it was stated that the * 

 wheat in Dutchess county was sadly injured 

 by "a little yellow worm in the head of the 

 wheat," which destroys the grain. It was 

 also reported at the Club, that a field near 

 Astoria, "was injured by a fly — not the 

 Hessian — a small one, scarcely discernible, 

 lodged in the capsule of the wheat, and a 

 little yellow worm, the product of the fly." 

 The crop had been treated with a dressing 

 of poudrette, and had consequently "grown 

 with so much vigor, as in good measure to 

 escape from damage." It is said further, 

 that a disease similar to that which is 

 threatening to destroy the buttonwood tree, 

 not only in this country, but also on the 

 continent of Europe, and m the Azores, has 

 in some places attacked the white oak, and 

 a suggestion is thrown out, that it may be 

 with the sycamore, as it has been with other 

 trees: it may have seen its day — its race 

 may be about to run out. 



The electrical experiments detailed be- 

 low, in hastening vegetation, are certainly 

 very curious. Y. Z. 



Sir, — At your request, I send a con- 

 cise account of the few experiments I have 

 made on the application of electricity to 

 vegetables. They have been but few in 

 number, although at present they may be 

 more interesting, from the fact that very 

 recent discoveries have rendered the use of 

 this subtle, mysterious agent, more or less 

 advantageous in many of the arts. 



My attention was first called to the sub- 

 ject, by reading in some periodical — I be- 

 lieve one of the earlier volumes of the Gar- 

 dener's Magazine — of an experiment said 

 to have been performed at a dinner given 

 by the Marquis of Anglesea, of the follow- 

 ing nature: The statement was to the effect, 

 that the seeds of cress — lajpidium sativum — 

 were sown in a glass vessel at the time the 

 guests sat down to dinner, and that the crop 

 from these seeds was served to them in the 

 salad ! The seed was sown in a soil formed 

 of clean sand, mixed with some black oxide 

 of manganese and table salt: the whole was 

 moistened with dilute sulphuric acid, and 

 electricity applied. The manner in which 

 this agent was generated, or used, was not 

 stated; but even without it, we all know 

 that cress seed so treated, will germinate in 

 about three hours, though the seed leaves 

 will not be fully developed in less than five 

 hours after sowing. Cress, when used as 

 salad, is always taken in the seed leaf; and 

 unless we believe that the dinner was pro- 





