No. 2. 



On the Manuring and Steeping of Seeds. 



43 



Besides, there is a show of reason in what 

 he states. For though we may very faiily 

 (loubt, or perhaps entirely disbelieve, that 

 the quantity of manure with which he en- 

 velopes his seeds, can be sufficient to supply 

 the wants of the crop that is to spring- trom 

 them, yei there can scarcely be a more eco- 

 nomical way of employing the same quan- 

 tity of manure — one in which there will be 

 less waste of it, or in which it will be more 

 useful to the growing plant. In every way 

 of applying manure to the soil which has 

 hitherto been adopted, a large portion never 

 reaches the roots of the plants. Even when 

 drilled in along with or near the seeds, a 

 notable quantity escapes from the neighbour- 

 hood of the roots, and is more or less com- 

 pletely lost to the crop it is intended to feed. 

 Sach must obviously be the case to a very 

 much smaller extent where it is in actual 

 contact with the seed it is to nourish, and 

 actually envelopes it. 



Still it is doubtful whether the gain or 

 saving effected by this method, will be equal 

 to the cost of time and labour which it in- 

 volves. Should such a mode of manuring 

 be found easily practicable, more skilful 

 mixtures than those of Victor — such as 

 would be more certain to succeed, and such 

 as would be fitted especially to aid the 

 growtii of this or that kind of crop — could 

 easily be suggested. 



In illustration of this opinion, I will here 

 briefly state the facts from which I am led 

 to believe that considerable benefit may in 

 reality hereafter accrue to practical agricul- 

 ture, from a careful study of the eifect of 

 certain known steeps or prepared mixtures 

 upon the after growth of the seeds upon 

 which they have been tried. 



1°. The quantity of inorganic matter con- 

 tained in the grain of wheat, oats, barley, 

 &c., is comparatively small. In wheat and 

 barley it varies from \\ to 2 per cent, of the 

 whole weight; in oats' it is about 3^ per 

 cent, but a considerable proportion of this 

 is contained in the husk with wliich the oat 

 is usually invested. But, though small in 

 quantity, this inorganic matter is absolutely 

 essential to the perfect condition of the seed, 

 and to the healthy growth of the plant that 

 springs from it. 



2°. When seeds are steeped in water, 

 they swell and increase in bulk. They ab- 

 sorb a portion of the water and of any saline 

 substances it may Iiold in solution. iXow, if 

 the small quantity of saline or inorganic 

 matter which exists in seeds does really 

 promote their growth, may not a larger 

 quantity promote it morel May not the 

 growth be more luxuriant if the seed be 

 steeped in water containing saline substances 



in solution, and be thus made to absorb an 

 additional proportion] It does not appear 

 unreasonable to suppose that a bushel and a 

 half of seed-wheat may be made to absorb a 

 pound of saline matter. This appears, in- 

 deed, to be only a very small quantity, and 

 yet, if absorbed, it would add one half more 

 to that which the seed naturally contains. 

 We cannot pronounce beforehand, with ab- 

 solute certainty, that by this absorption the 

 growth of the seed would be greatly pro- 

 moted, though both theory and practice con- 

 cur in rendering it probable. Thus the 

 experiments of Bickes — whose mode of pre- 

 paring seeds appears to be a simple steeping 

 in saline solutions — appear decisive in favour 

 of the opinion that such artificial additions 

 to the saline matter of the seed do really, in 

 some cases at least, greatly promote the 

 growth of the seeds, and increase the luxu- 

 riance and produce of the after crops. 



The fact that saline manures are benefi- 

 cial, in many cases, to the growing crop, 

 when merely applied to the soil, is in favour 

 of the same view. The salts, it is true, 

 when applied to the soil, enter the plant by 

 its roots; but, nevertheless, their action is 

 simply to yield saline matter to the plant in 

 larger quantity than it could otherwise 

 readily obtain it from the soil. This addi- 

 tional supply might at once be given it, 

 to a certain extent, by steeping the seed 

 itself. 



3°. Further, we know that some seeds 

 germinate much more rapidly and certainly 

 than others. We know, also, that the pro- 

 portion of inorganic matter, or of ash they 

 leave when burned, varies in dififerent sam- 

 ples of seeds of the same kind. That con- 

 tained by wheat, for example, is sometimes 

 \l, sometimes If, and sometimes nearly two 

 per cent, of its weight. Can this difference 

 in the growth of seed and the difference in 

 the proportion of saline matter, have any 

 connection with each other? Do some ger- 

 minate feebly, do others fail entirely, because 

 thfey contain too small a proportion of the 

 usual saline constituents of the seed? Would 

 they germinate better if more were by some 

 means given to the seed 1 The same expe- 

 riments of Bickes, upon the effect of steep- 

 ing, seem almost to answer these questions 

 ii^the affirmative ; they, at least, render it 

 very probable that some such relation does 

 exist between the two differences to which 

 I have alluded. The same may also be said 

 of the observation made by Mr. Fleming, of 

 Barochan, that seed wheat, which had been 

 dressed the previous year, with certain sa- 

 line substances, grew more luxuriantly, and 

 jgave a better crop than that which, though 

 I! grown on the same field, had not been so 



