1847. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



133 



How few fruit growers duly appreciate 

 dinal principle. 



Ash of a Fiaiffus, ( Bolettis igiiarms,) growing 



pie-tree. — The inside of the fungus is soft and 



outside is hard and unyielding. The difference 



led to a separation of the fungus into two parts. 



Outside. 



Totash, '21.25 



Sod.a, 4.29 



Chlorine,... 1.58 



Sodium. 1.04 



Sulphuric acid, 2.58 



Phosphate of peroxide iron, ) 

 Phosphate of lime, >... 12.20 



Phosphate of magnesia, } 



Carbonic acid, 14.39 



Lime, .- 20.31 



Magnesia, 0.60 



Silica, 3.30 



Soluble silica, 0.20 



Organic matter, 11.20 



this car- 



on an Ap- 

 corky, the 

 in texture 



Inside. 

 15.36 

 4.00 

 0.8iJ 

 0.52 

 2.30 



18.11 



10.80 



2.13 



0.20 



8.30 



0.70 

 16.50 



92.94 90.45 



The injury which fruit trees sustain by fungi and lichens 



growing upon them, is evident from their analyses. The 



nutriment is all derived from the bark and wood of the tree; 



and besides, these parasites produce and hasten the decay 



•f the tree. 



Ash of a Lichen, ( Gyrophora vellea, ) growing upon gneiss, 



at Little-Falls. 



Lichen. 



Potash, 8.8.50 



Soda, 2.588 



Chlorine, 2.938 



Sulphuric acid, 2.738 



Phosphate of peroxide iron, 10.937 



Phosphate of lime and magnesia, 10.188 



Carbonic acid, 25.667 



Lime, 2.926 



Magnesia, 0.380 



Silica, 44.000 



Soluble silica,... 1.000 



Organic matter, 9.250 



98.094 

 Several years since, seeing a lichen growing 

 on a gneiss boulder, we tore it off, dried, pulver- 

 ized, and moistened it with pure rain water, and 

 planted timothy seed in it. The moss'was placed 

 in a coffee cup. The crop was duly watered 

 with rain water caught in a clean vessel as it fell 

 from the clouds. The timothy came to maturity 

 in due time, and was dried, pulverized and added 

 to the decaying moss, in which it grew. Two 

 kernels of peas were planted in the compound, 

 and made to bear seed. From these seeds hu- 

 man flesh could easily have been formed. Here 

 was only three generations of plants intervening 

 between a naked, solid, flinty rock, and a living 

 human being. 



Who will disparage the study of rocks, soils 

 and lichens, seeing as we do that they have a 

 relation so intimately blended with our daily 

 food and clothing ? 



The True Law of Population. 



bOME new ideas on population have been 

 broached by Mr. Doubleday, in a publication 

 lately made by him entitled " The True Law of 

 Population." This law of population, he en- 

 deavors to show, is connected with and depends 

 upon the nature of the food of the people. Mr. 

 Doubleday says "his theory is founded on the 



admissions of all medical and physiological au- 

 thorities of modern times, and supported by many 

 of ancient time/j, and is corroburated by an ap- 

 peal to living generations." He affirms that 

 " populations are uniformly found thin in pasto- 

 ral countries, where the food is animal food 

 chiefly ; denser, where it is mixed partially with 

 vegetable element ; denser still, where it is veg- 

 etable only, but with plenty ; and densest of all 

 where it is vegetable, but with scarcity super- 

 added." 



The examples which the author quotes from 

 the history and condition of the world go far to- 

 ward establishing his theory. If he be correct, 

 the true remedy for excessive numbere, is not 

 emigration, but plentiful and nutritous food. — 

 He divides society into three clcisses — " the worst 

 dieted, the moderately dieted, and the luxurious- 

 ly dieted ;" and observes "that it is upon the 

 numerical proportion which these three states 

 bear to each other in any society, that increase 

 or decrease on the whole depends." Mr. Doub- 

 leday's argument derives considerable support 

 from the decay of opulent families, and their rap- 

 id extinction. We have abundant evidence of 

 this at various epochs, and in different countries. 



Tacitus gives us one instance in the reign of 

 the Emperor Claudius. If we turn to England 

 we shall find that, but for comparatively new 

 creations, both the peerage and baronetage of 

 England would have been extinct. The number 

 of English peers in 1837 was 350, of which 247 

 had been created since 1760. The decay of the 

 baronets had been more remarkable still. So 

 that if no new peers had been created since 1670 

 the present number would have been only 103, 

 and but for perpetual new creations ther? would 

 scarcely have been a baronet left. Mr. Malthus 

 noticed a similar decay in the higher and wealth- 

 er families of Berne, in Switzerland ; and Mr. 

 Sadler cited Addison's authority to prove the ex- 

 traordinary decrease of the Venetian nobility. 



If Mr. Doubleday's theory be true, and it be a 

 law of nature that the worst dieted people shall 

 become the most numerous, then pauper relief 

 to Ireland, in the shape of poor food, will only 

 aggravate the evil. The effectual remedy is to 

 give the Irish people a sufficiency of animal food ; 

 Irish produce must be consumed in Ireland in- 

 stead of being exported. The standard of living 

 must be raised ; but it will not be raised by *he 

 introduction of the poor laws, and feeding the 

 hungry crowds with poor-house food. This will 

 only aggravate the evil through each successive 

 g-eneration. Mr. D.'s book is deserving the se- 

 rious consideration of political economists and 

 statesmen. 



Rats. — A red herring firmly fastened by a 

 string to any place where rats usually make their 

 run, will make them leave the place. It is said 

 to be a fact that a toad placed in a house cellar 

 will have the effect of expelling the intruders. 



